Mother Charged After Her Five Young Children Died in an Apartment Fire

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By Alyssa Wilson Published: November 9, 2021

Mother Charged After Her Five Young Children Died in an Apartment Fire

This Google Earth screenshot shows the apartment in East St. Louis, Illinois, where Sabrina Dunigan used to lived with her five children and her parents.

In Summary

A 34-year-old mother whose five children died in an apartment fire has been charged in connection to their deaths.

Sabrina Dunigan lost all five of her young children in an apartment fire in August. Now, she’s being charged in connection to their deaths.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday, Dunigan was charged with five counts of endangering the life or health of a child.

On Aug. 6, a fire at 560 North 29th Street in East St. Louis, Illinois, was reported around 3:00 a.m. Dunigan had gone out, and authorities allege she left her children unattended. Her children, two-year-old Loy-el Dunigan, four-year-old Jabari Johnson, eight-year-old twins Heaven and Neveah Dunigan and nine-year-old Deontae Davis, died in the fire.

Dunigan’s father Greg said he doesn’t understand why this is happening to his daughter. “Why are they trying to do this to her? She done lost all she can lose already,” he said to the Post-Dispatch. “Why they want to take the rest away, meaning herself? She don’t have nothing left.”

Greg Dunigan also said he and his wife lived in the same one-bedroom apartment as his daughter and grandchildren. He alleged they were supposed to watch the children while his daughter went to pick up her boyfriend from work, but they fell asleep.

When the fire broke out, Greg Dunigan said he and his wife jumped from the second-floor window. Sabrina returned to the scene and tried to save her children from the burning building, resulting in burns on her arms and feet.

Four of the children died in the apartment and a fifth died in the hospital, the St. Clair County Coroner confirmed. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

While Sabrina and her father said there were no smoke detectors, the building’s landlord, former police officer Rudy McIntosh, alleged he put smoke detectors in all of his rental properties.

Reaction to the charges against Dunigan quickly sparked outrage on social media.

This is the worst case of using the legal system *against* the most vulnerable people in our society that there could possibly be.

I bear witness to Sabrina Dunigan's unimaginable losses and the injustice being perpetrated against her. https://t.co/f3Wh7i7OHJ
— Amanda Quraishi (@ImTheQ) November 5, 2021

If any East St. Louis attorneys are willing to take on the Sabrina Dunigan case, I'd be happy to provide pro bono assistance⬇️ . . https://t.co/qi8LSKjrQU pic.twitter.com/7SOwhvDN6n
— Colin Miller (@EvidenceProf) November 6, 2021

#SabrinaDunigan lost her five children in a house fire. Now #StClairCountyIL is bringing her up on charges. She needs a place for healing and rest, not a trial and attempts to throw her in jail. This is how we know y’all hate BW. pic.twitter.com/tC19WOzD8x
— Thotazake Strange’ (@Stldeedee) November 4, 2021

I would love to see some action by parents like @millerbode who have lost children [and were not criminalized] on behalf of parents like #SabrinaDunigan who will sit in prison for the rest of her life, if not helped pic.twitter.com/Sc2uWD9ud6
— yeye (@harkshetweets) November 4, 2021

This is racism and the criminalization of poverty. Full stop.

Putting an alert on the name Sabrina M. Dunigan, she shouldn't spend one second in a jail, prison, or even police station. She is a victim and traumatized mother.
— Gina Baldwin (@GinaMaria6) November 5, 2021

Sabrina Dunigan is not yet in police custody and grand jury case is pending. Her bail is set for $75,000. Multiple GoFundMe pages have been created to support Dunigan and help with her legal fees.

If you or someone you know is struggling from trauma triggered by this story, resources are available here.  