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American Morning
Interview With Arson Victims's Daughters
Aired July 07, 2003 - 09:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lou Edna Jones's daughter, the victim of the fire, she leaves behind two of her daughters. They are urging the public today to help authorities catch the arsonist believed to be responsible for their mother's death. Sharon Lightfoot and Gloria James are in Washington, D.C. this morning.
Ladies, I thank you for joining us. Gloria, I'm going to begin with you. The fires started on March 25. Your mother, 85-years-old. Did she ever talk to you about being concerned about these fires?
GLORIA JAMES, DAUGHTER OF ARSON VICTIM: Basically, no. She was not concerned. And the reason being is because there was not enough public attention drawn to this horrendous act that this coward is doing.
O'BRIEN: Did your mom, Sharon, have a smoke alarm? Was she taking any sort of basic precautions to prevent against fire?
SHARON LIGHTFOOT, DAUGHTER OF ARSON VICTIM: Well, yes, she did. The smoke alarm had been test. It was working. There were a few fire extinguishers in the house. I mean, you know, she did what, you know, was I guess required by law, by the fire insurance company, or just by, you know, persons, you know, period trying to protect their home.
O'BRIEN: Gloria, what do you know now about the circumstances surrounding your mother's death?
JAMES: I know that some individual, some heartless individual came to my mother's house in the wee hours of the morning when she was upstairs in her bed, asleep in the home that she's been in for 50 years, and took her life away.
O'BRIEN: You called your mother "Mama Lou." Tell me a little bit about her. Remember her for us.
JAMES: My mother is best remembered for all the love and caring that she not only gave her children, her grandchildren, and her great grandchildren, but to this entire community.
O'BRIEN: Sharon, police now say that this fire is linked to other fires, could be the work of a serial arsonist. Give me a sense of how worried you are for your own safety.
LIGHTFOOT: Well, you know, it's a thing now where most nights in the middle of the night I'm checking, you know, the home, I'm checking on the children, make sure they're all right. You know, because it doesn't make sense. I don't know if it's just a thing of, you know, copycat, just, you know, a game, a prank -- it's senseless.
It's really senseless. And you know, to me it doesn't make sense. The person does not have the right to make others live in fear because of their own psychotic behavior. It's just not right.
O'BRIEN: Gloria, give me a sense of the mood of your neighbors and the folks in the area. Are they fearful for their lives?
JAMES: I'm sorry?
O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the mood of the neighbors. Are you all fearful for your lives?
JAMES: There's a lot of love in this community. My mother's greatly missed by all individuals because she is probably one of the oldest individuals in this particular area and she loved everyone.
O'BRIEN: Well, Sharon Lightfoot and Gloria James, we are very sorry for your loss. And we certainly appreciate you joining us this morning to talk about your mom.
JAMES: Thank you.
LIGHTFOOT: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 7, 2003 - 09:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lou Edna Jones's daughter, the victim of the fire, she leaves behind two of her daughters. They are urging the public today to help authorities catch the arsonist believed to be responsible for their mother's death. Sharon Lightfoot and Gloria James are in Washington, D.C. this morning.
Ladies, I thank you for joining us. Gloria, I'm going to begin with you. The fires started on March 25. Your mother, 85-years-old. Did she ever talk to you about being concerned about these fires?
GLORIA JAMES, DAUGHTER OF ARSON VICTIM: Basically, no. She was not concerned. And the reason being is because there was not enough public attention drawn to this horrendous act that this coward is doing.
O'BRIEN: Did your mom, Sharon, have a smoke alarm? Was she taking any sort of basic precautions to prevent against fire?
SHARON LIGHTFOOT, DAUGHTER OF ARSON VICTIM: Well, yes, she did. The smoke alarm had been test. It was working. There were a few fire extinguishers in the house. I mean, you know, she did what, you know, was I guess required by law, by the fire insurance company, or just by, you know, persons, you know, period trying to protect their home.
O'BRIEN: Gloria, what do you know now about the circumstances surrounding your mother's death?
JAMES: I know that some individual, some heartless individual came to my mother's house in the wee hours of the morning when she was upstairs in her bed, asleep in the home that she's been in for 50 years, and took her life away.
O'BRIEN: You called your mother "Mama Lou." Tell me a little bit about her. Remember her for us.
JAMES: My mother is best remembered for all the love and caring that she not only gave her children, her grandchildren, and her great grandchildren, but to this entire community.
O'BRIEN: Sharon, police now say that this fire is linked to other fires, could be the work of a serial arsonist. Give me a sense of how worried you are for your own safety.
LIGHTFOOT: Well, you know, it's a thing now where most nights in the middle of the night I'm checking, you know, the home, I'm checking on the children, make sure they're all right. You know, because it doesn't make sense. I don't know if it's just a thing of, you know, copycat, just, you know, a game, a prank -- it's senseless.
It's really senseless. And you know, to me it doesn't make sense. The person does not have the right to make others live in fear because of their own psychotic behavior. It's just not right.
O'BRIEN: Gloria, give me a sense of the mood of your neighbors and the folks in the area. Are they fearful for their lives?
JAMES: I'm sorry?
O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the mood of the neighbors. Are you all fearful for your lives?
JAMES: There's a lot of love in this community. My mother's greatly missed by all individuals because she is probably one of the oldest individuals in this particular area and she loved everyone.
O'BRIEN: Well, Sharon Lightfoot and Gloria James, we are very sorry for your loss. And we certainly appreciate you joining us this morning to talk about your mom.
JAMES: Thank you.
LIGHTFOOT: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
