Police in New Orleans announced the arrest of the father of the three children who perished in the house fire.
The New Orleans Police Department announced at a news conference on Wednesday that Joseph Washington, 29, was charged with three counts of second-degree murder, three counts of cruelty to a juvenile, and one case of aggravated arson.
According to investigators, a domestic dispute is thought to have caused the event.
Police said they were searching for Washington’s car when they discovered it partially submerged in the Mississippi River on Wednesday morning
Police claim that after being apprehended, Washington was taken into custody and sent to a hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.
The department’s Child Abuse Unit claimed in a news release that his arrest followed a 911 call from a mother saying the father of her children intended to set fire to their home on Tuesday just before midnight.
The mother was en route to the house when the call was made, according to the police.
Police say that shortly after, a single-family home in New Orleans East was reported to be on fire.
Two unresponsive children, a five-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy, were found by firefighters as soon as they got on the scene, one next to the front entrance and the other not far from it between the kitchen and the entryway, according to police.
“Firefighters made attempts to resuscitate both kids before both being transported to an area hospital by New Orleans Emergency Medical Services,” according to cops.
An hour later, the two kids were reportedly declared dead by police.
The coroner will establish the three children’s causes of death, according to the police.
According to authorities, they are still looking into what started the fire.