Woman 'set house on fire on purpose', killing boy, 5, as babysitter screamed

A woman is in court accused of starting a house firethat killed a five-year-old boy.

Taquida Hendrix, 32, is facing charges ofmurder and arson in connection with the death of Malakai Stovall on August 1 in Rochester, New York. The youngster suffered from severe burns and was put on a ventilator following the horrific incident but he died in hospital three days later, according to local media reports.

Two firefighters also suffered injuries in the blaze. The fire was seton the front porch of the family home at around 2am on the morning of July 29, 2024.

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Speaking in court on Wednesday, September 10, Toni Kendrick, 20, who was in the house as a babysitter looking after Malakai said she woke up to find smoke filling the house. She tried to rescue the boy, who was on the second floor of the house, but she was stopped from getting to him by the blaze.

The jury was played her desperate call to emergency services as she pleaded with rescuers to "hurry up," shouting "I can't get to him!" Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Sunderland told the jury it was important for them to hear the upsetting recording.

“We want them to hear what people were feeling in those moments and what was actually being said, because I think it paints a truer picture of the horrible chaos that existed when that fire is happening,” he said. “And so I hope that’s what they take from it, is the truth.”

Captain Frank Umbrino of the Rochester Police Department said previously: "The house almost immediately became engulfed in flames, trapping and ultimately killing Malakai and injuring two firefighters." Malakai was rushed to hospital and put on a ventilator after the fire, having suffered burns over more than 75% of his body.

"This was absolutely senseless," Rochester Mayor Malik Evans previously told a news conference. "Absolutely senseless for a little five-year-old kid to lose his life because cowards and people with reckless regard for human life decided to set a porch on fire with no regard to the damage that they would cause to an entire family and to just an entire community."

Malakai lived with his parents, who were out of town at the time with the boy being looked after by a 19-year-old babysitter. According to Captain Umbrino, the duplex home was "completely destroyed by the fire".

"This was just a senseless tragedy that took the life of an innocent five-year-old kid," he added at the time.

The trial is expected to hear testimony from thirty witnesses. Hendrix's sister Tiakayla and a third person, Roy Chambers, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree arson, WHECreported.