Charles Sumpter and Fleitte Newell charged in Strawberry Mansion arson in Philadelphia that killed pregnant mom, Ashley Thompson & her two young kids after a battle over an inheritance led to house being intentionally set on fire.
Pennsylvania authorities have arrested a family member and a second individual after a house blaze deliberately set led to pregnant Philadelphia mother and her two young children killed earlier this month.
Charles Sumpter, 67, and Fleitte Newell, 44, were on Wednesday taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of murder and related offences, following the death of Ashley Thompson and her two children according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
Police responded to a house fire in the 2500 block of N. Corlies Street in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood around 4:50 a.m. on June 13. When officials arrived, they said the home was fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters found the 31-year-old mother deceased on the second floor of the row house NBC 10 previously reported. Her two children, Assad Thompson, 6, and Alaya Thompson-Newell, 4, later died in the hospital.
‘Upon arrival, officers found the property fully engulfed in flames,’ a press release from police stated. ‘While firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, five individuals were discovered inside the residence.’
A 54-year-old woman escaped the fire after jumping from the 2nd-story window while holding her 2-year-old great-niece. Both the woman and child were hospitalized in stable condition.
Of note, one of the suspects arrested, Newell, is the sister of the 54-year-old survivor, identified as Sherry Jackson, 6abc reported.
The victim told the outlet that she had been arguing with Newell over the house for a year. She alleged that the suspect previously threatened to ‘burn the house with her in it.’ Jackson claimed that no action was taken when she reported the threat.
The outlet further reported a ‘battle over an inheritance,’ fuelling antagonisms between family members.
Sumpter and Newell were interviewed on the day of the arson but were not arrested until June 25, when they were served a warrant according to People Mag.
At the time of her death, Thompson was seven months pregnant.
A GoFundMe fundraiser described her as ‘a loving mother, daughter, and friend.’
‘Her children were her joy, her purpose, and the light of so many lives around them.’
