MAN ACCUSED OF STARTING FIRE THAT KILLED MOM, DAUGHTER AND HURT FOUR OTHERS IN CHICAGO

A 63-year-old man faces murder charges after a mom and her 11-year-daughter died in a house fire, police say.  

Reginald Brown was arrested this week by Chicago police and charged with two counts of murder and aggravated arson in connection to the Feb. 28 blaze. 

Police say Brown intentionally started a fire at a home on South Hermitage Avenue around 4 a.m. The fire led to the deaths of a 34-year-old woman and her daughter. Officials identified the mom as Ieashai Ford and the child as Porche Stinson Ford. 

Four other people were hurt in the fire. 

ABC 7 spoke with a relative of the family and they said that Ieashia “went back in to get her daughter” and “they passed away in the doorway and she had the baby in her arms.”

According to the family, the fire took place hours after an argument took place between Ieashia and Brown. The family claims that Brown was harassing Ieashia and “was sending her text messages and threatening her. That he was going to set her house on fire.”

Ieashia and Porche were sleeping when the fire started. Surveillance video shows the fire engulfing the home around 3 a.m., according to ABC 7. 

The fire department stated the single-family home had no working smoke detectors.