We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Friday UPDATE: Teen Arrested for Setting Fire That Killed Mother & Sister

Friday 5:30 a.m. Update (AP) — Hutchinson police say a 14-year-old boy is in custody after a fire at his home killed his mother and sister.

Police say the boy is suspected of deliberately setting the fire on Thursday. The teenager has not been charged.

District Attorney Keith Schroeder says investigators determined an accelerant was poured in several rooms on the first floor of the house and intentionally ignited.

Fire officials say the mother and daughter were found together in a bedroom. The girl died shortly after the fire and her mother died later Thursday.

The boy and his father were unharmed.

 

8:30 p.m.  The second victim of a house fire in Hutchinson has also died. Karla Vonachen was taken to Via-Cristi St. Francis Regional Medical Center in critical Hutchinson fire now a murder investigationcondition, but according to officials with St. Francis, she died late Thursday afternoon. Her 11-year-old daughter, Audrey also died after she was taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.

Thursday evening, 14-year-old Sam Vonachen, was taken into custody for aggravated arson and the murders of his mother and sister. A formal Juvenile Offender Petition will be filed forthwith as required by law in Juvenile Court according to District Attorney Keith Schroeder.

Both victims were found upstairs in one of the bedrooms of the two story home. Steve Vonachen, 48, Karla Vonachen, 47, Sam Vonachen, 14, and Audrey Vonachen, 11, were all inside the home when the fire started.

The fire was reported at 4 East 19th was called in around 12:17 a-m, and when crews arrived, the two story home was fully involved including the front porch. Once they got the flames under control, they then began the search of the home and found the two victims. Neither was conscious at the time.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kansas Fire Marshals Office, Hutchinson Police and an investigator with the Wichita Fire Department were on scene all day Thursday helping Hutchinson Fire Investigators learn the cause of the fire and where it may have started. They now say the fire was intentionally set. In a news release, Schroeder says an accelerant was poured around several rooms on the first floor of the house and ignited.

The detention of Sam Vonachen, and other released information, are based on mere accusations and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

1:23 p.m.  A child is dead and her Mother hospitalized after an early morning fire in Hutchinson on Thursday.

According to District Attorney Keith Schroeder, an 11 year-old-girl died shortly after arrival at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.

Fatal house fire in Hutchinson
Fatal house fire in Hutchinson

Her mother, was taken to Via-Cristi St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Critical condition. She has been identified as Carla Vonachen, who along with her husband Steve, own the home. Maria Loving of St. Francis confirms that Vonachen is a patient. A man and a teenage boy did escape the fire.

The fire at 4 East 19th was called in around 12:15 a-m, and when crews arrived, the two story home was fully involved. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives along with the Kansas Fire Marshals Office are on the scene investigating the cause of the fire.

Hutchinson Police are reporting the fire as a possible arson case.

7:40 a.m.  Investigators are working to determine the cause of a fatal house fire near 19th and Main Street in Hutchinson.

The fire was reported just after midnight on Thursday morning and the identities of the residents and victim haven’t been released. Stay tuned to Eagle Radio and check Hays Post for details as they become available.

 

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File