Police confirmed late Tuesday afternoon that an early morning house fire that led to the death of a baby was arson, and the Homicide and Arson Units were investigating.
Firefighters were called to the home on Armitage Crescent just before 4 a.m. Tuesday, and police were called to the scene a short time later.
Eight people were in the home at the time, and six managed to escape safely.
A 29-year-old mother and her 5-month-old son were still inside when crews arrived. The two were rescued by firefighters.
All eight people were taken to hospital – but the mother and child were in serious condition. Later Tuesday, police said she was still in hospital with life threatening injuries, but her son had succumbed to his.
Police said the individuals in the home were not all related, they included three men (aged 58, 40, and 24-years-old), a 35-year-old woman, and two other children, aged 7 and 5-years-old.
CTV News has learned the eight people inside the home were renters, and many were in the basement when the fire broke out.
“We tried to get out through the front, but we couldn’t so we went out the basement windows,” Kyle Whitford said, he told CTV News he rents from landlord Cordell Brown.
Whitford said Brown and his wife lived on the main floor and second floor of the home – and said Brown’s wife and child would have been sleeping upstairs, and Brown would have been “on the couch” on the main floor.
CTV News has learned the little boy’s name was Hunter, his mother’s name is Angie Tang.
The fire was at first considered suspicious, but police have since called it arson, the Homicide Unit is investigating the death of the child. An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Police said the death of the infant is Edmonton’s 32nd homicide of 2017.
Anyone with details on the fire is asked to call the Edmonton Police Service non-emergency line at 780-423-567 or #377 on a mobile phone.
Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
With files from David Ewasuk
