46-year-old Roconda Singleton is being charged with first degree arson and three counts of child abuse in connection to a house fire on Eastern Avenue near Hall Street Saturday evening.
Singleton’s three daughters – age 7, 10 and 12 - were all injured, the oldest remains in intensive care at Helen Devos Children’s Hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.
At a press conference Monday, Police Chief Eric Winstrom called it “a shockingly cruel, unimaginable crime.”
“This is a mom that meticulously took all seven of her smoke detectors and put them in a bag and then removed them from the house before she poured lighter fluid all over the house and lit it on fire in an attempt to kill her three children.”
The Kent County Prosecutor said the case likely includes mental health issues involving the children’s mother, who is expected to be arraigned in court within days.