A Connecticut mother has been charged with murder after her 8-year-old son was suffocated before being found dead in a fire that police say she intentionally set.
Karin Ziolkowski, 40, was arrested and charged with murder and second-degree arson in relation to a house fire that killed her eight-year-old son Elijah Ziolkowsi in Meriden.
Ziolkowski was inside the home located on Davis Street with her son when it caught fire around 7.20am on November 14, 2016.
Emergency personnel pulled the boy and his mother from a bedroom at the rear of the home, which they were going to be evicted from for not paying rent, The Gaston Gazette reported.
Karin Ziolkowski (above), 40, was arrested and charged with murder and second-degree arson in relation to a house fire that killed her eight-year-old son Elijah Ziolkowsi in Meriden
Ziolkowski was inside the home located on Davis Street with her son (above) when it caught fire around 7.20am on November 14, 2016
Emergency personnel pulled the boy and his mother from a bedroom at the rear of the home (above). The boy was pronounced dead, and she was rushed to a nearby hospital. She stayed in the ICU for a few days before recovering and being released
The boy was pronounced dead, and she was rushed to a nearby hospital. She stayed in the ICU for a few days before recovering and being released.
In the beginning, authorities thought the boy died from smoke inhalation.
But it has now been determined that he was killed prior to the fire being set and his death was ruled homicidal asphyxia, according to a press release from the Meriden Police Department.
Authorities say Ziolkowski moved to North Carolina after the deadly fire and that’s where she was arrested.
In the beginning, authorities thought the boy died from smoke inhalation. But it has now been determined that he was killed prior to the fire being set and his death was ruled homicidal asphyxia, according to a press release from the Meriden Police Department
Authorities say Ziolkowski (bottom right) moved to North Carolina after the deadly fire and that’s where she was arrested
She is currently in the Gaston County Jail and is awaiting to be extradited back to Connecticut.
The little boy was a third grader at the Israel Putnam School where he was well-liked by both staff and his classmates.
‘Bubbly kid. You know, loves Star Wars, Legos. … You know, a normal 8-year-old boy,’ Enza Adamcewicz, the principal of the school, told WVIT.
‘He was very social. … Everybody knew him, knew of him. Big personality and he will be greatly missed.’
The little boy was a third grader at the Israel Putnam School where he was well-liked by both staff and his classmates