A twisted Michigan mother allegedly confessed to removing seven fire alarms from her home before torching it with her three children asleep inside, killing her 12-year-old daughter, according to cops.
“I did it,” Roconda Singleton, 46, allegedly told cops of burning her Grand Rapids house early Saturday, officials told Fox 17. “I am not going to sit here and play like I am the victim.”
The mom is accused of timing the blaze for when her three daughters — ages 7, 10 and 12 — would all be asleep, removing the fire alarms, which were later found stuffed in a pillowcase in the backyard, officials told the outlet.
She allegedly poured lighter fluid around her home to start the blaze — and then stood outside watching as her kids screamed from inside the blazing property,
While her 10-year-old daughter managed to help get the youngest child out — with family members calling her a “hero” — the 12-year-old girl, Shamiya Stewart, was unable to escape in time.
She died Monday, after two days in intensive care.
“This is a shockingly cruel, unimaginable crime committed by a mom against her three kids,” Grand Rapids Police Department Chief Eric Winstrom told reporters at a press conference Monday, saying he “cannot fathom any motive.”
Singleton’s other two daughters suffered minor injuries — with the 10-year-old demanding justice against her mom.
“I want to say that she should be locked up for life for killing my sister,” the 10-year-old girl told WOOD TV of her mom, who’d refused to help her save her older sister.
“I want to know, why did she have to do that to her? She didn’t deserve that.”
Singleton appeared in court on Tuesday on court Tuesday on arson and child abuse charges, but more charges — including murder — are expected. Despite the alleged confession, she initially pleaded not guilty, reports said.
