MCKEE, Ky. (WTVF) — Kentucky State Police are investigating a deadly house fire in Jackson County that claimed the lives of three young children late Tuesday night.
Just before midnight on Dec. 23, troopers with Kentucky State Police Post 7 in Richmond were asked by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department to assist with an investigation at a home on Upper Dry Fork Road in McKee.
Investigators said three children — a 7-month-old, a 2-year-old, and a 3-year-old — were pronounced dead at the scene as a result of the fire.
A fourth child, a 4-year-old, was taken to the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital and later transferred to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, for additional treatment.
Three adults were also injured and transported to the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital. They were identified as Tyler Monst, 23, Morgan Johnson, 22, and Florence Johnson, 76, all of McKee.
The cause of the fire and the circumstances surrounding the deaths remain under investigation.
The case is being led by Kentucky State Police Detective Anthony Bowling, with assistance from Kentucky State Police personnel, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, multiple fire departments, and the Jackson County Coroner’s Office.
September 11, 2001 is a day most associate with terror and tragedy. Austin Pollack shares a story from that day about hope and persistence: the effort to save a little girl’s life – with an organ donation. The problem? The young patient was in Houston, and her life-saving liver here in Nashville. With the grounding of all civilian aircraft, how could it be done? “Nobody ever said this isn’t possible.”
- Rhori Johnston
