Background: The 1800 block of Cantwell Court in Raleigh, North Carolina in the early morning hours of Sept. 29, 2024 (WRAL/YouTube). Inset: An upstairs window of the apartment where the fire broke out (WRAL/YouTube).
A mother has been arrested in response to a grease fire that took the lives of two of her children last fall – and the details presented by authorities allege negligence led to the tragedy.
Rodreika Porter, 34, was arrested by Ahoskie Police Department officers on Thursday and charged by the Raleigh Police Department on two counts of felony child neglect inflicting serious bodily injury. Ahoskie is located about two hours east of Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, suggesting Porter had moved since the fire.
At about 6 a.m. on Sept. 29, 2024, firefighters and police officers arrived at the 1800 Block of Cantwell Court in Raleigh due to reports of a house fire. A 1-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy were inside the residence at the time of the fire and were pronounced dead after being transported to a nearby hospital.
The details that emerged in the subsequent months helped police build a case against Porter.
The mother was not home at the time of the fire, according to court records reviewed by Raleigh-based NBC affiliate WRAL, which included a witness statement to police that said she was “up the block getting high during the fire.”
Additionally, while Porter denied at the scene taking drugs or medication in the lead-up to the fire, a social worker reportedly said the mother “tested positive for fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana,” and may also have drunk alcohol, authorities say.
And while Porter was reportedly not at home as the fire raged, a search warrant reviewed by the outlet suggests she is the one who caused it – as “the mother of the children was heating a pan with oil to cook pork chops, but fell asleep, leaving the stove on.”
The exact sequence of events are unclear, as the warrant also states Porter was awakened by smoke from the grease fire – casting doubt on how she could have been “up the block.”
What appears to be undisputed, however, is that the mother – wherever she was – noticed the fire, grabbed her children and went outside, knocking on neighbors” doors and screaming for help, authorities say.
Neighbors shared with WRAL at the time how they were awakened to a harrowing scene.
“The dead of night – we just hear banging, banging, banging, banging, banging, banging and screaming. We wake up, we come outside, she comes around the corner, and the woman is just holding her children,” an unidentified witness stated. “They’re lifeless.”
Porter is not have needed medical attention from the fire, according to authorities.
