Change of plea in deadly fire probe

A Preble County man changes his plea to guilty for felony trespassing charges connected to a fire that killed two children earlier this year.

Arcadio Escobar changed his plea Tuesday in Preble County Common Pleas Court. Escobar’s ex-girlfriend, Chastity Hall, is in jail awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter and child endangering charges, connected to the deaths of her two children, Malea and Malachi Bradburn. Prosecutors allege Hall left them home alone when the deadly fire started.

KEY POINTS:

• Arcadio Escobar changes plea to guilty on felony trespassing
• Chastity Hall indicted for involuntary manslaughter, child endangering
• Hall pleaded not guilty to the charges
• Malea, 10, and 8-year-old Malachi Bradburn had been left home alone
• Cause of fire ruled undetermined by state fire marshal's office
• Hall declined safety counseling for son in December after small fire

UPDATE @ 1:44 p.m. 4/21/2015

Arcadio “Eric” Escobar changed his plea to guilty on felony trespassing charges Tuesday in Preble County Common Pleas Court. Escobar was charged as part of the investigation into a deadly fire that killed two children in February.

Escobar’s ex-girlfriend, Chastity Hall, the mother of the deceased children, was indicted in the deaths and is awaiting trial. Escobar is scheduled to be sentenced May 27th. Preble County prosecutor’s are also looking into Escobar’s right to be in the U.S. after receiving information he entered the country illegally.

UPDATE @ 11:47 a.m. 4/10/2015

Chastity Hall appeared in court today and pleaded not guilty to charges against her.

Her trial was set for next month.

UPDATE @ 1 a.m. 4/10/2015

Chastity Hall is scheduled to be arraigned this morning Preble County Common Pleas Judge David Abruzzio’s courtroom, online court records show.

UPDATE @ 4:40 p.m. 4/6/2015

A Preble County grand jury has indicted the mother whose two children died in a Feb. 21 house fire.

Chastity Hall, 35, was indicted Monday on six felony counts in the fire that claimed the lives of 10-year-old Malea and 9-year-old Malachi Bradburn.

The Preble County prosecutor said Hall would be issued a court summons for four counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of endangering children.

The children, who were students at Twin Valley South Elementary School, were left alone in their home in the 3400 block of East U.S. 35 while Hall was out drinking the night of Feb. 20 and into the morning of Feb. 21 when the fire broke out, authorities said.

The cause of the fire has been ruled “undetermined” by the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Investigators said the fire was so intense, there was not enough of the home left to determine how the fire started that killed the siblings.

The night before the deadly fire, Hall had sought a babysitter for her children, according to an affidavit filed by Preble County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Spitler. She apparently was unsuccessful, and left home anyway.

Hall’s ex-boyfriend, Arcadio “Eric” Escobar, 33, was indicted last month on a felony trespassing charge after he reportedly admitted to police that he was on the front steps of the home on the night of the fire. Escobar was questioned about the fire, but Preble County Prosecutor Martin Votel previously said there was insufficient evidence to charge him in connection to the fire or the children’s deaths.

UPDATE@2:05 p.m. 3/1/2015

A Preble County grand jury has put off until April the case against the mother whose two children died in a Feb. 21 fire.

The grand jury indicted Chastity Hall’s ex-boyfriend, Arcadio “Eric” Escobar, 33, on one count of felony trespass today. he reportedly admitted he was on the property the night of the fire.

Hall was away from her home when a fire broke out and killed her two children, 10-year-old Malea and 9-year-old Malachi Bradburn. Hall currently faces two felony counts of child endangering and up to six years in prison, but additional charges are possible, Preble County Prosecutor Martin Votel.

The grand jury had been told that certain evidence was not yet available, including forensic reports from the State Fire Marshal’s laboratory, cellphone analysis, and an analysis of any mechanical and electrical appliances retrieved from the scene of the fire. The jury chose to pass the case until April, when more evidence may be available, according to Votel.

UPDATE @ 9:54 p.m. 2/25/2015

Among evidence released by Preble County authorities was a description by local a fire official who said he was in the home two months ago and saw evidence that the 9-year-old boy “had been starting small fires in the home.”

Two days before Christmas, West Alexandria Volunteer Fire Chief Jeff Shafer was called to the family’s home to investigate an electrical issue, reports said. Shafer reported that he found plastic items in the boy’s bedroom had been melted and that his bedspread had been caught on fire.

“Upon further investigation, I saw that he had some burn spots on his mattress. I called him out on it a little bit,” Shafer said Wednesday. “We hugged when it was done. It was all good.”

Hall refused Shafer’s offer to have counselors meet with Malachi about starting fires, Shafer told investigators.

The night before the deadly fire, Hall had sought a babysitter for her children, according to an affidavit filed by Preble County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Spitler.

In the affidavit, Spitler said:

Hall went to her parents, who live in Eaton and have custody of her teenage son. They did not permit the teenager to go with Hall. She returned home at 1:45 a.m. Saturday to put on fresh makeup and saw that Malachi was asleep in his room and Malea was asleep on the couch. Then she left for the VFW with a friend.

At 2:37 a.m., Escobar was involved in a car wreck on U.S. 35 west near New Hope. He later told police that he had gone to the home, walked up to the front door and found it unlocked, then left.

At some point during the night, Escobar went to Hall’s friend’s house. The friend told police Escobar was intoxicated and angry with Hall over their relationship.

Police confirmed that his tracks in the snow led to the front porch.

About 3:45 a.m., large flames became visible in the area of the home, prompting multiple witnesses to call the fire department. Firefighters arrived to find the floor collapsed, the roof gone and no sign anyone was home.

Shafer said he had no idea that the children had been sleeping inside.

“It was so far gone by the time we got there,” Shafer said Wednesday. “It had to have had one heck of a good start.”

Hall arrived home about 6:45 a.m. to find the yard full of fire trucks and her house destroyed.

She yelled, “Where are my babies, my babies are in there,” according to the affidavit.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard that was,” Shafer said. “When she looked at me and said her babies were still in that house, it was quite hard for me.”

The children’s bodies were found in the basement about 10:30 a.m.

Hall’s sister, Jessica Hall, said the family is devastated by the loss of two children who were “always smiling.”

“They will be forever missed and loved in our hearts. They were so full of life, so intelligent,” Jessica Hall said. “They were very sweet children, always thinking about others. Our whole community is devastated. They were a light and a blessing.”

FIRST REPORT

Crews from West Alexandria remain on scene of a fatal fire in Preble County.

Firefighters were dispatched around 4 a.m. to the 3400 block of U.S. 35 East.

The Preble County Coroner was called to the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.