QUINCY -- A man who was recently paroled from prison was charged Monday with setting a fire at his cousin's house that killed five children and injured four other people. | Photo gallery
The fire early Sunday may have stemmed from a family dispute, a relative said. The children's parents, who tried in vain to save them, were among the injured, the relative said.
Zachary Q. Meeks, 27, was arrested Sunday at his home. He was charged with multiple counts of murder and aggravated arson. Prosecutor Jon Barnard said he would decide later whether to seek the death penalty.
Meeks has several previous felony drug arrests, including a 2005 conviction that landed him a four-year prison sentence, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. Department records show Meeks was released from prison in December and was on parole for two years.
Rescuers responded to reports of a house engulfed in flames at about 3 a.m. and later discovered the five bodies inside. Neighbors said flames were shooting out the windows of the two-story brick home.
The dead children, four boys and a girl, were found on the second floor of the house, coroner Gary Hamilton said. He identified them as Kendall Edwards, 10; Althea Clark, 9; Camron Clark, 5; Khalil Clark, 3; and Kejuan Clark, 5 months.
He said autopsies were planned.
Meeks was paroled from prison in December after serving time in a drug case.
The death penalty ``is something that has to be (considered) in a case like this,'' Barnard told The Associated Press on Monday after Meeks made his first court appearance. ``It's on the table until we take it off.''
Ed Downey, Adams County's chief public defender who was named to represent Meeks, did not immediately return a message Monday seeking comment. Meeks was jailed without bond.
The parents, Jeanette and Keith Clark, were down the street when the fire started and were both injured, Michelle Gavin, the children's aunt, told WGEM-TV.
Gavin said there was a dispute between the parents and Meeks stemming from a drug-related prison sentence handed down to another family member. Barnard would not publicly discuss a possible motive, saying only that the blaze appeared to be connected to a disturbance earlier that night at a local nightclub.
Keith Clark was in good condition Monday at Springfield's Memorial Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. Earlier, authorities had said that in addition to one person airlifted to Springfield, a firefighter suffered minor burns and two other people were treated at a hospital and released.
Quincy, which sits along the Mississippi River, is about 90 miles west of Springfield.
Neighbors said the children were well-behaved.
``They were well-dressed and clean, and they always said hello,'' Sue Johnson said. ``I would see them walking down the street to go to church and they were always very nice.''
********
I had no idea this was a black family.
Linear Mode
