"It's been playing over in my mind:" Police identify two killed in arson blaze near 38th & Wright



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milwaukee police on Monday, April 20th identified two people killed in a fire that is being investigated as arson. It happened on Friday, April 17th near 38th and Wright. The victims who died have been identified as 25-year-old Michea Sampson and 28-year-old Dontray Jones. Witnesses say it took just seconds for the flames to spread throughout the first floor of the home. One witness believes the home was targeted, and she says she's now worried about her own safety.

When firefighters first arrived on the scene shortly after 3 a.m. Friday, flames were showing on the first and second floors of the home. At the same time, firefighters heard explosions coming from inside the building. It was later determined there were numerous oxygen tanks inside the building. The fire spread to a second home.



"It's been playing over in my mind a thousand times," a witness who doesn't want to be identified told FOX6 News. "I've been really scared. I've been terrified."

This witness has significant apprehension about speaking with anyone regarding this fatal fire, but told FOX6 she'd be willing to do so in the hopes her account of what happened Friday prompts police to increase patrols in the neighborhood.

A Milwaukee Fire Department spokesman tells FOX6 News the fire was caused by "an incendiary device."

"I looked out the window first and I saw somebody over there and I still heard some voices -- and so I went to crack the door to look, and I looked, that's when I heard the glass break, and whoever it was, they jumped back in the car and the yelling and the explosion -- it seemed like it all happened all at the same time. It was so quick," the witness said.

A woman who lived in the upper unit tells FOX6 she and her son were able to escape the blaze, along with two others on the first floor.

"Couldn't do nothing. I was fumbling with my phone, trying to call 911 and when I finally called them, I was screaming. I was screaming so bad on the phone," the witness said.

As police, the ATF and the State Fire Marshal's Office continue this homicide investigation, the witness tells FOX6 some sort of commotion drew her attention to the street in front of the home at 2:48 a.m.

"I was screaming and hollering to my husband for him to come and help. I think somebody blowed the house up," the witness said.

Now, near memorials that have gone up in and around the home, there are signs indicating the home will be razed by Wednesday.

"Oh my God -- I done seen stuff on TV, but to see that? I screamed so bad my head's been hurting me for three days," the witness said.

We're told the man and woman who died in this fire didn't live in the home. They were apparently in town to attend a funeral.

Michea Sampson, Dontray Jones



Michea Sampson's father tells FOX6 News the bodies of both his daughter and Dontray Jones were located in a bedroom. It appears they were asleep, and both were overcome by smoke as a result of the fire.

A funeral is planned for Saturday, April 25th for Sampson in Oklahoma City.