Child dies after being pulled from burning apartment

By WISN Staff

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    MILWAUKEE (WISN) — A 4-year-old boy pulled from the second floor of a burning apartment building Sunday afternoon died later at Children’s Wisconsin.

His family identified him Monday as Ja-Rome Clark.

His mom told WISN 12 News Hannah Hilyard he had snuck upstairs while the rest of his family was downstairs watching cartoons.

“Next thing I knew, I just heard a loud boom and a sizzling sound. I made it upstairs. I opened the door. There was so much smoke I couldn’t get my son out,” his mom Stacy Watson said. “This is the worst hurt I ever had in my life. I wouldn’t wish this on nobody.”

Firefighters found the child, paramedics began performing life-saving measures and then rushed the boy to Children’s Wisconsin.

The fire department was called to the scene near North 84th Street and Mill Road at about 3 p.m.

WISN 12 News’ Kendall Keys spoke with a woman at the scene who said she heard screaming and ran into the smoke-filled building to try to save the child.

“When I get out of the car, all you hear is ‘Please, no! Help me! Not my baby, not my baby,'” neighbor Lashanda Blackmer said.

She said she attempted to find the boy in the smoke-filled building.

“I was inside of her house. We were literally up the stairs trying to get to the little boy,” Blackmer said.

When the smoke became too much for her to continue searching, Blackmer said she stuck by the mother’s side until Milwaukee firefighters pulled the boy from the flames.

“Calm down, I’m going to be here for you, I’m not going to leave your side. Your son is going to be okay. But then when they brought him out and I seen him, I still kept faith,” Blackmer said.

Police said the child died from his injuries hours later.

“Don’t nobody want to see or hear that their kid is dead, like no. And that really messed me up,” Blackmer said. “Hysterical. I could have fainted. I’m just lucky that it wasn’t my baby.”

Watson said investigators are telling her the cause was likely electrical. Milwaukee police said the cause is undetermined, although it does not look suspicious.

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