An Ohio mother who survived a house fire that killed all five of her young children broke down as she sobbed there's 'nothing worse than living this hell'.
America Negron Acevedo's brood Aleysha Rosario, nine, three-year-old Charles Gunn, two-year-old, Ly'Asia Gunn, and one-year-old twins Brianna and Arianna Negron, perished as smoke and flames filled their property last December.
Investigators announced the 'mishandling of fire products', likely a lighter, caused the inferno and claimed the mother had not been cooperative during their complicated investigation, Acevedo bawled on camera reliving the incident.
The blaze, at the family home on Parkcliffe Avenue, Youngstown, was ruled accidental.
Acevedo initially said she smoked on a mattress downstairs on the living room floor while watching television but later said one of her children must have been playing with a lighter. Several lighters were found in the home.
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America Negron Acevedo survived a December 9 house fire in Ohio. She cried recalling how she woke to hear children screaming 'Mommy!'
Children Aleysha Rosario, nine, three-year-old Charles Gunn, two-year-old, Ly'Asia Gunn, and one-year-old twins Brianna and Arianna Negron died
'I feel like it's nothing worse than living this hell of living without my babies,' the 26-year-old told WKBN, days before details of the investigation were released.
The mother wept as she explained how she woke up with the fire already raging in the wood home: 'Hearing my kids screaming, 'Mommy, mommy, mommy!'
She said tried to run down the stairs but was devastated when two of the screams stopped.
Acevedo – who initially said she was smoking on a mattress in the living room - ended up jumping from a second-floor bedroom window which resulted in critical injuries.
Investigator Kurt Wright said the opening of the window made the fire worse and helped it spread to three more children upstairs.
'It was approximately 16 degrees out that night. So we had a fire on the first floor and now had a vented window on the second floor, which allowed that smoke and heat to travel directly up the stairwell, almost like a chimney,' he said in a Thursday press conference.
Acevedo said she had no choice but to jump from the second-floor window pictured here
But investigators said open window made fire spread upstairs where three children were found
Explaining why she left her home, Acevedo added in the news interview: 'You think I didn't think about not jumping out the window? You think I didn't - I wanted to jump out the window and leave my babies there? But if I don't jump out the window -- I can't find my phone, everything is pitch black, I can barely breathe - nobody's going to find us. I'm going to die trying to help them and I can't help them.'
It prompted her to run
