A Pennsylvania mom has turned herself in to police after charges were brought against her in the death of her children. Danozjna Williams, 22, was out when her home caught on fire. At the time, she had left her three young children, one of whom was an infant, by themselves. There was no way for them to get out of the home as it burned, and the smoke was too thick for neighbors to get inside and try to save them. Williams wasn’t initially charged, but as the investigation went on, police made a shocking discovery about what she was doing. Now, her future is unknown.
The situation is tragic.
A fire broke out around 4:30 p.m. on March 29, 2026, in the second floor of a two-story home, YourErie reported. A neighbor saw the flames and called for help, but the smoke was too bad for the person to go inside.
According to Erie Chief Fire Marshal Don Sauer, the fire started in the kitchen, but the cause was still undetermined as of mid-April. Williams’ 5-year-old son, Tobias, and 3-year-old daughter, Da’liyla, were declared dead shortly after their arrival at UPMC Hamot Trauma Center, per Erie News Now.
Their 5-month-old sister, Amirah Al-Mansouri, was flown to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she died several days later.
Investigators later learned what the mom was doing when her children were trapped.
On May 6, Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz announced that charges would be filed against Williams, YourErie reported.
She was charged with third-degree murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, and recklessly endangering another person. According to Hirz, the mother of three was out making a drug deal at the time of the fire.
“This is a heartbreaking but completely preventable tragedy,” Hirz said. “The evidence shows these young children were left without supervision in a situation where they needed their mother to protect them and keep them safe. That duty was abandoned, with devastating consequences.”
Search warrants from the Erie Police Department stated that Williams was at Walmart at the time of the fire. Now, Hirz claims that the point of the trip was to sell drugs.
Williams is in police custody.
The mom turned herself in on May 7, according to the Erie Police Department, per YourErie. According to online court documents, she is being held at Erie County Prison without bail. She has a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 28.
According to an eight-page criminal complaint obtained by the outlet, investigators allege Williams left her children alone for nearly an hour while she went to another town to make a drug deal.
The information found by investigators contradicts Williams’ assertion that she had only left her children for five minutes and they were supervised when she was away. They say they have evidence to support their allegations, YourErie reported.
The criminal complaint includes a detailed conversation between Williams and a woman who had previously bought drugs from Tyler Huff, the biological father of two of the children who died. He was in Erie County Prison on the day of the fire.
Williams and the woman reportedly arranged to meet in Corry for her to purchase the drugs, but Williams never made it, per YourErie. As the mom was on the way, her landlord called to tell her that her apartment was on fire.
Neighbors are still grappling with the tragedy.
As the news broke of the charges Williams is facing, neighbors spoke with YourErie about what it was like to witness the fire that killed her children.
“It’s very traumatic because it’s hard at times to just picture those little ones and what they must have gone through,” one neighbor said.
Another added, “All I could do was yell and I just stood there and it was hard. It was hard watching something happen and evolve and you knew that there were possibly kids in there.”
“All of our neighbors…it was like trauma in this neighborhood,” a different neighbor shared with YourErie. “I didn’t know there were kids in there. We could hear the glass popping. The firemen are trying to get in, banging on the doors and we’re like ‘What are they banging on?’ It was just awful.”
One neighbor who also witnessed the fire spoke about Williams’ activity, saying it was “shocking and upsetting that someone would risk leaving their babies alone to do a drug deal for money for drugs, whatever. There’s no excuse in this world.”
