Police have arrested a second suspect in the Kensington arson that killed three young children last month.
Maheim Starks, 23, of the 800 block of North 10th Street, was arrested June 18 and charged with three counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault, according to court records.
Zakeeyah Harper, 22, of the 600 block of East Cornwall Street in Kensington, was arrested within days of the May 14 rowhouse fire. She is charged with three counts of murder, four counts each of attempted murder and aggravated assault, arson, recklessly endangering another person, and risking a catastrophe for allegedly setting the fire.
Harper and Starks are jailed without bail.
Starks' arrest was revealed in court yesterday when a preliminary hearing for Harper was postponed, in part, because prosecutors want to link the cases together. A new preliminary hearing date for the pair is expected to be scheduled today.
Starks' attorney, Douglas L. Dolfman, said yesterday that his client was arrested because Harper gave a statement to investigators connecting Starks to the crime.
"The Commonwealth has a tough burden to overcome to tie my client to this," Dolfman said. "He has an alibi. He wasn't even there, and he wants to know why she wants to set him up."
Upon Harper's arrest, investigators said she had quarreled with the mother of the children over a man.
The early-morning blaze in the 1800 block of East Clementine Street claimed the lives of Mahogany Porter, 7, Shaune Porter, 5, and Sharonda Porter, 4. Two of their siblings, ages 5 and 8, were hospitalized. The children's mother, Jamika Clark, 26, also was badly burned.
Distributed by the Associated Press
