Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 9-4-15 Edition

Feature
Family Members Set Up Burial Fund For Victims Of Deadly Fire
The events of Tuesday, Au- gust 1st will be forever etched into the minds and hearts of family members and residents of the East Tampa community where a fire claimed the lives of four people.
After receiving a 9-1-1 call from Ariel Dunlap, firefight- ers were dispatched to a house fire at 3720 East Paris Street. Prior to their arrival, a neigh- bor had tried yelling through windows to alert the occupants that the house was on fire.
When firefighters arrived, they reported seeing smoke and flames coming from the house, and after gaining entry into the home, they found four people, three of them children.
The occupants of the house at the time of the fire were Sh- eryl James, 61, and her three grandchildren, Romello Jackson, 8; Emjay Jack- son, 3, and Reshard Ashley, 8. Ms. James, Emjay and Reshard were pronounced dead, and Romello was hos- pitalized in extreme critical condition. He was taken off life support Wednesday and pro- nounced dead.
Lekia Murray, mother of Reshard Ashley, and LaQuana James, mother of Romello and Emjay Jack- son, both said they are grate- ful for the support they’ve gotten from the community. Their mother, Ms. James, had no insurance and there was also no insurance policies on the children.
Reshard and Romello were students at Sheehy Ele- mentary, where a grief coun- selor immediately met with classmates of the two boys after the announcement was made about the tragedy.
Ms. Sheryl James lived in the house for 12 years with its owner, Clarence Fletcher. The pair were re- portedly boyfriend and girl- friend, and Mr. Fletcher had been hospitalized two days prior to the fire.
Fire Marshal Milton Jenkins said the cause of the fire was a cord from a window air conditioning unit that had been spliced and plugged into a surge protector.
“After entering the home, we found Ms. James in one room with two of the boys, and
The burglar bars covering these windows proved fatal for Sheryl James and two of her grandchildren.
Sheryl James (right) and Charles Fletcher.
Emjay Jackson, Romello Jackson, and Reshard Ashley.
the other boy in a different part of the house. It appeared he was trying to get out before he was overcome by the fire and smoke.
“What also hindered the family’s escape were burglar bars covering all of the win- dows and the front door. The bars covering the windows were secure and none had a re- lease bar. There were also no smoke detectors or a fire extin- guisher inside the home.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up by relatives who are seeking donations to help with funeral and other ex- penses. Anyone who wants to make a donation can go to Go- FundMe.com/UE38TB3S.
A relative of the family said they are putting together a fish fry for Monday to help raise funds, and the location hasn’t been decided.
Ray Williams Funeral Home has been contacted by the family to assist them with arrangements.
Fire Marshal Jenkins
and members of his staff have been joined by the American Red Cross in conducting a fire safety awareness canvass of the neighborhood during which they will install smoke
detectors and provide fire safety and escape route train- ing to residents in the neigh-
Reshard, Romello and Emjay cooling off.
borhood.
Ms. James would have
celebrated her 62nd birthday September 27th.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A