Authorities said that a Georgia teen was arrested in connection to a fire that killed his 10-year-old sister.
Fox5 reported that Zoe McCue perished at about 5 a.m. when the blaze began in the Loganville home on Sunday, after becoming trapped in her bedroom.
After police revealed the fire was deliberately lit, the unnamed brother was taken into custody Sunday, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The police said they are treating the girl’s death as a homicide, although no charges have been filed.
When fire crews arrived on the scene early Sunday, the home was engulfed in flames.
Authorities said the 10-year-old and her 15-year-old brother were believed to be inside the house after the mother and two siblings had already managed to escape.
“Multiple aggressive search attempts were executed to locate the missing children,” Gwinnett County fire spokesperson Lt. Justin Wilson said.
“After the fire was brought under control, a 10-year-old female victim was located deceased in room used as a bedroom without window access.”
Over the next several hours, fire crews sifted through the debris, searching for the fifteen-year-old. Authorities said he was found safe at another location at 9 a.m. and appeared to be uninjured.
Amongst the debris, two family cats were found deceased.
Fox5 reported that when the fire broke out, two other people who lived at the home, the father and another teen sibling, were at work.
“At this time, it has been determined the fire was set intentionally by a sibling of the deceased victim,” police said.
“This is still an active investigation and is being treated as a homicide. Gwinnett police detectives are working closely with arson investigators throughout the duration of this investigation.”
Authorities said that there were smoke detectors in the home when the blaze started, but they did not activate.
