Early Saturday morning, around 4:30 a.m. Marian Evette Williams, 49, was out to get revenge on her former boyfriend. She had broken into his house a week ago and was jailed over the event and had gotten out the day before. At the time, she threatened to burn her ex-boyfriend’s house down and earlier this week she made good on her promise.
This past Saturday, police say Williams set fire to the house, where her ex-boyfriend was sleeping and is responsible for the deaths of his three grandsons who were also in the home. The brothers identified as Marcus Clark, 10, Kiani Clark, 8, and Kemaren Clark, 4, all perished in the inferno and their grandfather escaped with serious injuries and is in intensive care. Another woman in the home also escaped the fire and was uninjured.
Police in Arcadia, Florida arrested Williams and charged her with arson, attempted murder and three counts of murder. She was arraigned and is being held without bond. Her next court appearance will be on April 10, 2017.
The family of the victims is remembering the three brothers as fun loving and caring for one another. Their grandmother, Emma Clark, stated to media that Marcus, 10, always looked out for his two younger brothers. Arcadia Police Officer Quinn Jones patrolled the neighborhood and recalled the brothers and stated to media, “They go around playing basketball, skateboarding, playing football. Every blue moon we have officers stop off with them and do the same thing with them… We don’t have a big crime rate here. It just devastated everyone.”
The family has stated they are now turning to God to help cope with their grief. In addition, community leaders are setting up an account at a local bank to help the family cover funeral and medical expenses after this senseless tragedy.
