CHICAGO - A woman told investigators that she was trying to warm her feet by lighting a dollar bill on fire when the blaze spread through an apartment building and killed four people, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Three men and a young mother died in the fourth fire, which began Saturday morning on a landing between the second and third floors of the building.
Smith told investigators that she used the dollar to start a fire because she had lost her shoes and wanted to warm her feet, Lacy said.
Smith will be held at the Cook County Jail‘s hospital facility, after Cook County Criminal Judge Colleen Hyland granted that request by Assistant Public Defender Dayna Woodbury.
Smith was identified after witnesses reported seeing an unkempt woman wearing clear plastic bags on her feet near the scene of the fires. Authorities were not certain of her age.
The victims‘ relatives filed wrongful death lawsuits Tuesday against the owners and managers of the building. They claim the building owners violated a city ordinance by failing to maintain a deadbolt locking system on its front door, which allowed Smith to enter and set the fire.
By NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ, Associated Press Writer © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Source: Westfall Weekly News
