Brandi Sturdivant is a woman from North Carolina who was just charged with three counts of second degree murder after her three young children died in a house fire
According to police reports a fire broke out at a home in Greensboro North Carolina and inside of the home were three young children, a 4-year-old and two 1-year-old twins, alone
A neighbor would see the fire and call 911 however when firefighters arrived they were unable to save the three young children who all died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Brandi Sturdivant, the mother of the three children, was no where to be found. Apparently two months prior Brandi decided she wanted to go out and left the children alone so there was a pattern
Brandi Sturdivant would be arrested and has been charged with three counts of second degree murder with more charges pending
Brandi Sturdivant News
A 28-year-old woman is facing charges in relation to a fire that killed three children in a home on Grimsley Street in Greensboro.
Brandi Sturdivant, 28, was arrested for three counts of felony neglect and child abuse, in relation to the investigation.
Greensboro police said the fire occurred on Dec. 12. They were called to the scene at approximately 7:55 a.m. in reference to a law assist request by the Greensboro Fire Department.
When first responders arrived, they said they found the home on fire and they discovered three children dead inside the home.
Police said they initiated a parallel death investigation and subsequently, a child abuse investigation leading to Sturdivant’s arrest.
Police said they’re still investigating the case and deadly fire.
Brandi Sturdivant Other News
Greensboro woman whose three children died in a horrific house fire in 2022 was charged Monday with three counts of second-degree murder in connection with their deaths.
Brandi Sturdivant, already jailed on three counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury in the case, is scheduled for an appearance on the new charges Tuesday in Guilford County District Court, according to a news release from the Greensboro Police Department.
The fire claimed the lives of Antonio Little Jr., 4, and Aerious and A’nyis, 1-year-old twin brothers, who had been left on their own inside the house when the fire started, authorities have said.
Police did not reveal the evidence that prompted the new charges, but Sgt. J.R. Waddell paid tribute to homicide investigators who brought the case together.
“Detective (Edward) Bruscino worked diligently with this investigation,” Waddell said in a news release.
The case shook the community and revealed stark shortcomings within the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services’ division of Child Protective Services that led to state sanctions, then remedies by the agency.
Members of the community had complained to officials for years about Sturdivant’s alleged gross neglect of the children, yet the children were never permanently removed from the home, records show.
Essie Moffitt, grandmother to three of Sturdivant’s surviving children, said Monday night that she has compassion for Sturdivant.
“She’s not a monster, but she’s not the Brandi I knew,” Moffitt said. “I know she loved her children. We all make mistakes, we all make crazy mistakes, but she’s not at fault on her own.”
Moffitt explained that Sturdivant had suffered from mental illness since age 13 and was taking medication for her mental health problems at the time of the fire.
“I know her life has not been easy.”
The fire
First responders were called to 2518 Grimsley St. in Greensboro on the morning of Dec. 12, 2022, where they found the modest, single-story frame house engulfed in flames.
Desperate callers can be heard on recorded 911 calls from that morning, one woman grief-stricken because she believed the children were trapped in the house.
Guilford County Fire Department investigators and Guilford County EMS workers ultimately found the brothers deceased inside a bedroom of the tiny dwelling after the blaze was brought under control, authorities said.
Autopsies found the children died from carbon monoxide poisoning and showed cocaine in the bloodstream of Antonio Little Jr.
The three were siblings to three more of Sturdivant’s biological children, ages 8, 9, and 10 at the time of the fire.
A search warrant related to the case led to a discovery by a canine. The dog, trained to detect flammable liquids at fire scenes, signaled the presence of such material at five places inside the home, police said in 2022.
Investigators further confiscated a gas can, lighter, stove and two phones from the scene.
A review of the Guilford County Department of Social Services by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services found evidence of state policy violations and other deficiencies — problems that prompted the NCDHHS to order the agency in 2023 to remedy the problems.
In fact, investigators found an open case regarding Sturdivant and nine complaints about her filed since 2016 with the agency’s Child Protective Services division.
One complaint from November 2022 was still open at the time of the fire. It included allegations that Sturdivant had left her youngsters alone in the home, court documents showed.
A complaint from September 2022 that was closed by DSS by the time of the blaze, detailed that one of the twins was found with dried and fresh feces matted in his hair and on his body. The tot’s penis was injured and swollen due to severe diaper rash, an arrest warrant said.
At one point, Child Protective Services opened an investigation and created a “temporary safety plan” in which all of the children were removed from the home and placed with a relative. The agency returned the children to their mother eight days later.
