MO Dad Gets Seven Years for Fire That Killed Daughter, Man

July 29, 2016
There was evidence the child had grasped onto the playpen rail as the flames surrounded her.

A Grandview man who caused a house fire that killed his 14-month-old daughter and an adult friend was sentenced Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court to seven years in prison.

Stephen D. Elijah, 35, was convicted in May of two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child in a fire that ravaged a house in the 12000 block of Belmont Avenue in Grandview.

The blaze on Sept. 29, 2014, killed 14-month-old Se’Asia Elijah and Anika M. Hobley, 37, of Kansas City.

Jackson County jurors acquitted Stephen Elijah on an arson charge.

During the sentencing hearing Wednesday, Elijah apologized for causing the fire as well as the pain he caused to the relatives and friends of the victims.

“I would never want to put this on anybody,” he said. “I don’t how I can make this right. I had wished I had died that day.”

However, Elijah never took responsibility for his actions that evening, said assistant Jackson County prosecutor Traci Stansell.

“The only person he tried to save that night was himself,” Stansell said.

Se’Asia had burns on her face and soot in her lungs, nose and stomach from smoke and intoxicants she inhaled as the blaze spread throughout the three-story residence.

There was evidence the child had grasped onto the playpen rail as the flames surrounded her.

The fire began in the basement at the base of a set of stairs and quickly spread. The Missouri fire marshal determined that gasoline had been used to ignite the fire.

Two girls, ages 11 and 6, jumped from a window about 10 feet above the ground to escape the burning house. They knocked on the door of a neighbor, who called 911.

Fire crews found Stephen Elijah in front of the home attempting to put out the blaze with a garden hose. Elijah told them his infant child was dead on the back deck and a woman was in the basement.

The officers tried to revive the infant. Elijah told them, “My baby is dead. She doesn’t have a heartbeat.” The officers performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

Elijah later told detectives that he had poured gasoline on a fire that was about to go out and the gas can exploded. Elijah said he threw the can against a wall, causing the flames to spread.

Glenn E. Rice: 816-234-4341, @GRicekcstar

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©2016 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)

Visit The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) at www.kansascity.com

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