CHICAGO — Investigators are looking into the possibility that arson casued a fire in Roseland that killed a 28-year-old woman and an 8-year-old boy Saturday, police said.
The fire started about 1:40 a.m. in a multi-unit residence in the 11200 block of South Martin Luther King Jr., Drive, said Officer Jose Estrada, a police spokesman. The cause of the blaze is unknown, police said.
Killed in the fire were Millicent Brown-Johnson, 28, and Jovan Perkins, 8, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said.
Flames spread through a stairwell and engulfed the second and third floors of a three-story building, according to Will Knight, a fire department spokesman.
Brown was taken to Roseland Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 3:19 a.m., authorities said.
Jovan was taken to Hope Children's Hospital at Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was treated for third-degree burns and cardiac arrest, Knight said. He was pronounced dead at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood at 11:15 Saturday night.
One firefighter suffered a minor laceration to his face.
The cause of the fire was still unknown early Saturday. The fire department and police arson unit are investigating.