A mother has been arrested in connection with a grease fire that killed two of her children last autumn, and authorities say negligence contributed to the tragedy.
Rodreika Porter, 34, was arrested by Ahoskie Police Department officers on Thursday and charged by the Raleigh Police Department with two counts of felony child neglect resulting in serious bodily injury. Porter may have relocated since the fire, as Ahoskie is approximately two hours east of Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital.
On September 29, 2024, around 6 a.m., firefighters and police officers responded to reports of a house fire in Raleigh’s 1800 Block of Cantwell Court. A 1-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy were inside the home at the time of the fire and were pronounced dead after being taken to a nearby hospital.
The information that came to light over the next few months assisted police in building a case against Porter.
The mother was not at 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 stating she was “up the block getting high during the fire.”
Furthermore, while Porter denied taking drugs or medication before the fire, a social worker reportedly stated that the mother “tested positive for fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana,” and may have also consumed alcohol, according to authorities.
While Porter was reportedly not at home when the fire broke out, a search warrant reviewed by the outlet suggests she was the one who started 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 is unclear, as the warrant also states Porter was awakened by smoke from the grease fire, raising questions about how she could have been “up the block.”
What appears undisputed, however, is that the mother, wherever she was, saw the fire, grabbed her children, and went outside, knocking on neighbours’ doors and screaming for help, according to authorities.
Neighbours told WRAL at the time how they were awakened to a terrifying scene.
“In the dead of night, all we hear is banging, banging, banging, banging, and screaming. We wake up, go outside, and she comes around the corner, holding her children,” an unidentified witness said. “They’re lifeless.”
According to authorities, Porter did not require medical attention as a result of the fire.
