SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- An apartment fire killed an 88-year-old Alzheimer's victim who was tied to a chair in her bedroom to help stabilize her broken hip, officials said.
Manuela Morales died Monday in the fifth-floor fire, which started when her 8-year-old great-grandson was playing with a lighter and candles under her bed, family members said.
Morales was immobilized with rope to keep her from falling and injuring herself, family members told police. But the rope also prevented another great-grandson, Ameio Hernandez, from rescuing her.
``She was in the chair, tied up,'' said Hernandez, 16. ``She was screaming because the fire was burning her.''
Hernandez rescued his 8-year-old brother, who locked himself in a bathroom.
Prosecutors declined press charges against the boy, citing an absence of criminal intent, said detective Robert Williams, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police.
The fire also gutted another apartment in the complex. Other residents escaped without injury.
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