Posted on 03/19/2006 6:18:26 PM PST by wjersey
An off-duty Philadelphia police officer is dead, and his 13-year-old daughter is charged with his murder.
Angry because her father disciplined her, Brittany Talington poured "some kind of liquid" over clothes and paper and set it aflame, causing the death of her father, Tyrone, Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said today.
Witnesses said they saw the girl, who has been charged as an adult, running from her father's Loretto Avenue home in Oxford Circle early yesterday as flames engulfed the duplex. It was not clear whether anyone else lived there, police said.
Johnson said he believed the 32-year-old 10-year veteran was searching the house for his daughter when he died. His body was found in the dining room.
"This is sad, such a tragedy," Johnson said, adding that the father and daughter were related to Evette Chandler, a city officer assigned to the First District. "A son is deceased, and a granddaughter has been charged in the death."
The fire started around 4:30 a.m. David Boorman, whose home shares a wall with the Talingtons', awoke to a man's screams.
"I heard a man's voice yelling," Boorman said. "He wasn't saying anything, just screaming. And I could smell the smoke. We called 911 and ran out of the house."
With the exception of the pungent smell of smoke, Boorman said, his home was spared. He said he had working smoke detectors. The two smoke detectors in the Talington home were not working, police said.
That came as a surprise to Laibhin Elie, who lives across the street. As he stood outside the home he shares with his wife and two young children, police carried out Talington's remains.
"Oh, my God," Elie said. "I've only seen that on TV, not face to face. You really have to check on those smoke detectors."
Fire-truck and police-car sirens awoke Elie as the fire burned. Although the flames were out in 16 minutes, he watched for an hour as crews worked the scene.
"As my wife and I were watching, we thought 'Please, don't let anyone be in there,' " he said. "But that early in the morning, you knew someone had to be."
It's not clear how long Talington had lived in the house. But neighbors - some of whom have lived on the street for four years or more - said he was relatively new to the block.
Elie and Boorman said they had seen him around but did not know him. Officers at the scene said they did not know him personally either but had heard people speak highly of him.
What is known about Talington is that he worked as a Philadelphia police officer for 10 years. He was assigned to the 14th District, in northwest Philadelphia. Officers there said Talington had been assigned to the 14th for about three years, but they would not comment further.
Elie said he last saw Talington on Saturday afternoon. The officer was outside his home laughing with people he knew, Elie recalled.
This afternoon, strangers stood outside his home, trying to see whether the debris on the small lawn could tell them something about the man who once lived there.
But in the rubble, there was little left beyond the burned clothes, a blackened cookbook, and a melted plaque commemorating Shaquille O'Neal's NBA rookie year.
damn sad
This man had this child when he was 19 years old. Look what a horrible thing she did to her father. Her life is ruined.
Pitiful. Poor man, searching for his daughter who set him on fire...
From KYW ---
"Police say Talington disciplined his daughter late Saturday night and had fallen asleep in the living room when the fire was set. Officer Talington awoke when he smelled the smoke and ran around frantically looking for his daughter, who had safely escaped."
My God. What a sad, depressing, and sickening story.
The Dad's last act was to try to save his daughter from a mysterious fire. They will try to vilify him at her trial but his final act speaks volumes.
His life is even MORE ruined.
Too bad she can't be charged as an adult. She'll get a slap on the wrist and juvenile detention until she's 18.
She is a woman and a minor. My bet is she won't see any jail time and will plead that her father abused her to get the sympathy of the lawyers, judge and jury.
"...the girl, who has been charged as an adult..."
;)
Missed that. Wow, 13 can be charged as an adult.
She is a woman and a minor.
From the article: "Witnesses said they saw the girl, who has been charged as an adult..."
???
She killed her father......burn her!!!!
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul rest in peace. Amen.
"Too bad she can't be charged as an adult. She'll get a slap on the wrist and juvenile detention until she's 18."
Hmm...had you read past the first couple of paragraphs, you would have found this:
"Witnesses said they saw the girl, who has been charged as an adult,"
Reading is FUNdamental.
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