–6 Baltimore Sun. “6 deaths bring life terms. Fire that Lucas set killed her children.” 10-5-1993.

–6 Hub Pages. “Moms Who Kill Their Own Kids.” 8-10-2011 update.

–6 USFA. “Six Children Die in Row House Arson, Baltimore, Maryland – July 7, 1992.” P. 14.

Narrative Information

Baltimore Sun: “Tonya Lucas was sentenced yesterday to the maximum penalty of six consecutive life terms in prison for setting the fire that killed six of her children — a crime described by the judge and the prosecutor as one of the worst in Baltimore’s history. ‘It is despicable, and I think it is unspeakable as well…’ Baltimore Circuit Chief Judge Robert I. H. Hammerman said before sentencing Lucas. ‘Six separate young lives have been lost, and I think there must be appropriate punishment for each of them.’

“Lucas, 30, continued yesterday to say authorities were framing her. Her voice broke twice during her remarks to the court, but she showed no emotion when the sentence was announced…

“Lucas was convicted in July of six counts of first-degree felony murder and one count of arson in the July 7, 1992, fire that killed six of her seven children. The guilty verdicts came nearly four months after her first trial ended in a mistrial when that jury could not agree on a verdict.

“In both trials, prosecutors argued that Lucas set the family’s East Baltimore rowhouse on fire to get help from the Red Cross because she was facing eviction that day. In the second trial, the prosecutors added another motive, saying Lucas set the fire to cover up evidence of child abuse by incinerating the body of a 2-year-old son who weighed 10 pounds.

“And, although prosecutors never claimed that Lucas intended to kill the other children who died in the fire, Judge Hammerman told her yesterday, ‘There is ample evidence to suggest you set the fire with the intention of burning up whatever was in the house, human or nonhuman.’

“The judge said he was especially distressed by the results of a psychiatric evaluation that showed Lucas had no mental disorders that would predispose her to commit such a crime. ‘This to me highlights the callousness that you showed,’ he told Lucas. ‘It highlights the total disregard to the lives of these children, It highlights the terribly, terrible heinous nature of this crime.’

“Earlier, prosecutor Jack I. Lesser, who asked for the maximum sentence, said Lucas apparently spent much of the more than $1,400 in government checks she received monthly on drugs instead of rent. Mr. Lesser described the woman as a ‘cold, calculating, manipulative murderer and liar’ who had been investigated four times by social workers for allegedly neglecting her children. In one case, when social workers looked into an accidental burn sustained by her oldest son, Antoine Lucas, Lucas ‘appeared apathetic and showed no interest in the child,’…

“In another instance cited by the prosecutor, social workers opened an abandoned-baby investigation when Lucas could not be found in the days after the birth of Gregory Cook, the son who at age 2 weighed 10 pounds and was said to be within days of dying when the fire killed him….” (Baltimore Sun. “6 deaths bring life terms. Fire that Lucas set…” 10-5-1993.)

Hub Pages: “One of the state’s most infamous cases of a mother murdering her own kids is the…case of 29 year old Tonya Renee Lucas. Charged with setting the fire that killed six of her seven children, she was convicted of first degree murder after two…trials. According to published reports, a witness testified in her second trial that on the morning of July 7 1992 at around 8am, an hour before she was scheduled to be evicted from her two bedroom row home at 2424 E. Eager Street, he stared in horror as she splashed gasoline all throughout the house. Later the house was up in flames. Tonya managed to escape by jumping out a second floor window but inside were all seven of her kids: 2 month old Damien Cook, 2 year old Gregory Cook, 2 year old Takia Cook, 3 year old Deon Cook, 5 year old Russell Williams, 12 year old Antoine Lucas, and 8 year old Billy Lucas – the only child to survive the blaze. Although all six kids were in cardiac arrest when medics got on the scene, they got heartbeats back on Deon, Antoine, and Russell but they later died from burns and smoke inhalation as well. An autopsy on Gregory Cook showed something even more disturbing. At 2 years old, the toddler weighed a mere ten pounds and with burns covering over sixty percent of his skeletal body he had healing fractures on his tenth and eleventh rib and the middle of his left leg. So emaciated, malnourished and dehydrated the doctor said he could have been dead before the fire….

“While cops built a case against her, the Red Cross came through for the kids assisting with clothes for their funerals and meals for the post funeral dinner. The Department of Social Services covered the $6000 cost of the funeral… Arbutus Memorial Park donated the burial plots for the children. Crying as she walked past their closed caskets at the funeral, Tonya was arrested the next day and charged with six counts of first degree murder and the abuse on Gregory one week after their…deaths. On drugs and on welfare, Child Protective Services had conducted nine investigations on her between June 6 1981 and March 4 1991. Prosecutors theorized she set the fire to cover up the abuse on her son but because they were unable to introduce evidence of the abuse her first trial ended in a mistrial when jurors couldn’t reach a verdict. Four months later prosecutors got the case transferred to another judge who would allow the evidence of the abuse as well as the testimony of an eyewitness who said Tonya set the fire to get clothes, furniture and new housing from the Red Cross. After jurors deliberated for eleven hours, they finally got a conviction and she was sentenced to six consecutive life terms. Her new home is a cell at the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women in Jessup where she continues to maintain her innocence.” (Hub Pages. “Moms Who Kill Their Own Kids.” 8-10-2011 update.

USFA: “An incendiary fire in a crowded East Baltimore row house resulted in the deaths of six children from smoke inhalation. A total of thirteen people were in the dwelling at the time of the fire. Baltimore firefighters received the alarm at 8:16 a.m., and…arrived within minutes to find fire showing from the dwelling.

“Nine members of one family lived on the first floor and second floors of the two-story brick row house. Four members of another family were living in the basement. At the time of the fire, six children were upstairs in the second floor bedrooms. Another child and two adults were also in the house, possibly on the second floor.

“Firefighters entered the house, located and removed the six children who were trapped on the second floors. Two adults who lived on the first and second floor and one child had evacuated the building prior to the firefighters’ arrival. The four basement occupants escaped through an interior stairway and rear exit.

“The six children taken from the second floor and the two adults and one child from the first floor were taken to nearby Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, where four of the children were pronounced dead. A fifth child died later in the day. The sixth child, rescued from the second floor, was hospitalized in critical condition at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center but later died. The child who evacuated with the two adults was admitted to Baltimore’s R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Both of the adults were treated and released.

“Investigators from Baltimore’s Fire Investigation Bureau determined that the fire was intentionally set in the first floor living room at the front of the house. Fire and smoke quickly spread up the stairs connecting that room with a second floor bedroom, trapping the six children who were upstairs at the time. Fire damage throughout the dwelling was extensive, and efforts to determine if smoke detectors were present were inconclusive. Investigators received conflicting accounts from survivors regarding the presence of detectors. No detectors were found in debris at the scene, and damage in the area of the sleeping rooms and stairways was quite extensive. Fire and smoke damage was confined to the dwelling unit of origin. Brick party walls on either side kept the fire from spreading to adjacent dwellings in the densely built block. Damage to the building was estimated at $25,000 with $5,000 damage to the contents.

“Autopsies on the victims were conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. According to fire investigators, several of the children showed evidence of neglect and abuse; however, none were believed to have died prior to the fire. Police homicide and arson detectives arrested the children’s mother after questioning the adults who were present at the time of the fire. She was charged with six counts of murder and arson.” (USFA. “Appendix A: Briefs on 1992 Residential Fires with Five or More Fatalities Discussed in this Report.” Pp. 13-19 in Eight Children and Two Adults Die in Rural House Fire, Remer, Minn…. 1999, p. 14.)

Sources

Baltimore Sun. “6 deaths bring life terms. Fire that Lucas set killed her children.” 10-5-1993. Accessed 5-30-2016 at: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-10-05/news/1993278056_1_lucas-hammerman-maximum-sentence

Hub Pages. “Moms Who Kill Their Own Kids.” 8-10-2011 update. Accessed 5-30-2016 at: http://hubpages.com/politics/MOMS-WHO-KILL-THEIR-OWN-KIDS

United States Fire Administration. “Appendix A: Briefs on 1992 Residential Fires with Five or More Fatalities Discussed in this Report.” Pp. 13-19 in Eight Children and Two Adults Die in Rural House Fire, Remer, Minnesota (January 1, 1989). Emmitsburg, MD: National Fire Data Center, USFA, FEMA, 1999, 29 pages. Accessed at: http://www.interfire.org/res_file/pdf/Tr-028.pdf

1992 – July 7, Arson Fire set by mother kills six of her children, Baltimore, MD — 6