Mom and daughters, 8 and 10, killed in NYC fire: authorities

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A doting mom and her two young girls were killed Friday when flames tore through their Brooklyn home, leaving behind stricken Bravest and the tragic kids’ last hopscotch game still on the sidewalk. 

Danielle Havens, 48, and her daughters — 11-year-old Journee Miles and 9-year-old Kelsee Miles — were found inside the third-floor apartment on Gates Avenue near Tompkins Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where fire broke out in the family’s kitchen just after 5 a.m., authorities said.

Journee was a child model, and photos of her appeared in the baby book “Love is” edited by New York City former first lady Chirlane McCray, according to Havens on Facebook.

“[Bravest] actually passed the fire to get to the rear bedrooms and rescue three patients,” FDNY Battalion Chief John Sarrocco said at the scene.

A shaken neighbor added, “I saw [firefighters] working on the lady and the kids in the yard.

Danielle Havens and her daughter, Kelsee, in an undated photo. Both perished in the fire. Danielle Havens/Facebook
Three people, including two children, were killed in a Brooklyn apartment fire early Friday, authorities said. Gregory P. Mango
Journee, 11, was a child model. Danielle Havens/Facebook

“You could tell that the firemen knew they weren’t going to make it. You could see the sorrow on their faces.”

Grieving residents pointed to chalk drawings on the sidewalk that the two young girls made while playing on a nice day last week.

“The kids were playing hopscotch, and the mother was sitting on the bench watching them,” said next-door neighbor Darlene Brown-Bezear.

A mother and her two young daughters died when flames ripped through their Brooklyn apartment. Citizen

“Everything [Havens] did, she did with her children. She was beautiful.”

Firefighters responded within 3 minutes of being called to the apartment, but it was already too late, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh told reporters at a briefing.

“There was heavy smoke and fire on arrival, so even though it’s under investigation, what that may mean is the fire was going for some time,” Kavanagh said.

The 48-year-old mom and her two kids, ages 9 and 11, were found inside the third-floor apartment on Gates Avenue near Tompkins Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Citizen

“The nature of the injuries and of the conditions when the firefighters arrived was very advanced.”

The mom and kids suffered burns and smoke inhalation and were not breathing when first responders arrived, Chief of EMS Michael Fields said.

They were intubated and administered hydroxocobalamin – a drug meant to reverse the effects of cyanide overdoses, Fields said.

Danielle Havens was remembered fondly by shocked neighbors. Danielle Havens/Facebook
Grieving residents pointed out chalk drawings on the sidewalk that the two young girls made while playing on a nice day last week. Gregory P. Mango

When wood and other chemicals in a home burn, they release cyanide, the official said.

Despite the life-saving efforts, all three were pronounced dead at Woodhull Medical Center.

”I think the review is going to reveal just how much a mother’s love is just extremely intense, as you see what happened here, and it’s just really unfortunate,” Mayor Eric Adams told reporters, without elaborating on what he meant, including whether the mom may have died trying to save her daughters.

Kelsee Miles in an undated picture. Danielle Havens/FacebookV
Authorities said the fire broke out just after 5 a.m. Greg Mango

Only the family dog survived the fire, according to Brown-Bezear, who said she lost one of her three cats, Aria, 4.

Video from the scene shows an FDNY truck stretching its ladder and a firefighter entering a window, as sirens blare and other fire trucks line the block.

The blaze, which was placed under control around 5:45 a.m., does not appear to be suspicious, law enforcement sources said.

A video from the scene shows an FDNY truck stretching its ladder and a firefighter entering a window. Citizen

Its cause remains under investigation.

Sandra Lemonier, 36, who has lived in the apartment above the victims’ for 11 years, said she woke up coughing around 5 a.m. and immediately saw smoke.

“I went to the living room, and the door knob was hot,” the resident said.

” I had to let it go, it was too hot, but [then] I was able to open it. I heard my neighbor said, ‘Get your boys out!’ … I knew it was real at that point.”

Lemonier said she and her two sons were able to exit the apartment using the fire escape in their bedroom. 

“It was nothing but smoke. … I wasn’t able to see,” she said of the harrowing experience.

“It’s a tragedy,” she lamented of the blaze.

“I’m thankful my boys got out, but them two little girls didn’t. … I don’t know how to feel.”

Brown-Bezear added, “[Havens] was lovely.

“The two girls were so happy. You could tell they were loved because they were happy. She treated them with love and showered them with love. They knew they were loved.”

Younger modeling photos of Journee have appeared in Essence magazine and a Mastercard ad in addition to the book McCray edited, which was distributed to 200,000 city families to promote reading around 2015.

Havens moved into the Bed-Stuy home with her daughters less than a year ago, according to the next-door neighbor.  

“She wasn’t here that long,” Brown-Bezear said.

“We said hi, we laughed, we joked. The kids come over to play and watch TV. I have an 85-inch [TV], and they used to look at the little ‘Cinderellas’ … different movies, on my TV. We keep our doors open if the kids were in my house.”

Havens never went out on her own and was always with the kids, the neighbor recalled. 

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