A young girl was left orphaned after her father set fire to their house before taking his own life.
11-year-old Lulu from Queen Anne, Seattle, is the sole survivor of a massive blaze that was started by her father who recently completed a mental health program after his schizophrenia diagnosis.
According to the reports, the girl’s two siblings and mother all died in the blaze, whereas Lulu managed to survive by escaping the burning home through a window and alerting the neighbors of what had happened.
When the first responders arrived at the scene, they came upon a barricaded door and struggled to get inside. Later, the fire was put down and the firefighters found the bodies of four people and one dog inside.
The deceased have since been identified as Lana A. Stewart, 40, Sebastino Ragusa, 7, and Valentina Ragusa, 4 months. The children’s father, Salvatore Ragusa, was also found dead inside the apartment.
It has since been revealed that Ragusa recently completed a court-mandated mental health program after starting a fire in Stewart’s apartment back in 2019.
Following the 2019 incident, Ragusa was referred to as Stewart’s ex-husband in court documents. The man was at the time diagnosed with schizophrenia and he later underwent therapy, counseling, and psychiatric treatment as part of his court-ordered program.
Neighbors of Stewart and Ragusa have since the deadly fire spoken out and revealed that the pair lived in the area with their children for around two years during which they often spotted the children playing in the front yard.
Meanwhile, Lulu’s aunt, Adrea Stewart-Sloniker, launched a GoFundMe page to help the orphaned girl financially after the tragedy.
“Lulu has always been known as a talkative & loving girl who always put her family first. As she got older and became more aware of her situation, she often took on a protective but nurturing role,” she wrote.
“Therefore I’m not all surprised she jumped out a window with a 16 foot drop to help others survive. She thought she was going back to save her brother & sister after calling for help.”
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