Update: New Orleans Dad Arrested for Fire that Killed his Children
John Simerman and Michelle Hunter
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
(TNS)
Oct. 18—A New Orleans man accused of setting fire to his ex-wife's home with their three young children inside, killing them, has been taken into custody.
The arrest of Joseph Washington, 29, which occurred on Interstate 610 eastbound near the Elysian Fields exit, was confirmed by New Orleans police during a news conference.
He was booked on three counts of second-degree murder, three counts of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and one count of aggravated arson, NOPD said. U.S. Marshalls and the NOPD's Violent Offender Warrant Squad were responsible for taking Washington into custody.
Gretna police confirmed Wednesday that the vehicle he is suspected of driving away from the alleged arson turned up floating in the Mississippi River near the Gretna Ferry Terminal this morning.
"He's in the hospital now," said Troy McDonnell, Washington's father and the victims' grandfather. "He tried to run, escape."
New Orleans Fire Department firefighters were dispatched to the house in the 4900 block of America Street just after midnight Wednesday, shortly after the children's mother called 911 to report that their father had threatened to burn the house down.
Surveillance footage also captured a man leaving the home just as the fire started.
Firefighters found two children unconscious in the living room near the front door, and they were declared dead later at a hospital. Another was found dead near the center of the house, police and fire officials said.
The children, two boys and one girl, were ages 8, 5 and 3, according to the New Orleans Police Department.
The children's mother was not home at the time of the fire, authorities said.
Court records illustrate Washington's long history of alleged abuse, including divorce filings with the children's mother in which she describes him repeatedly hitting, choking and stalking her and threatening to kill her and the kids.
Staff writer Gabriella Killett contributed to this report.
Editor's Note: This post was updated to include additional information from New Orleans police.
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