A father is in mourning after four children, including his son, were killed after a residence caught fire Wednesday night.
Wesley Harvey, 28, was arrested for abandoning or endangering a child resulting in death after an arrest warrant said he left four children home alone. Harvey was the father of three victims.
Geoffrey Lucus, the father of the oldest child killed, said he cannot understand why his son and the other children were left alone.
“I keep telling myself that they were just asleep, because to think of four children to wake up and being scared and alone is something I can’t do,” said Lucus.
Lucus’ son, Elijay Lucus, was the oldest at 7 years old. Geoffrey said he has several things he wishes he could say to his son and to the man accused of leaving the children unattended.
“To my son, I just want to tell him that I love him, and I hope that he’s looking down on us,” said Lucus. “To the boyfriend, I am always going to be hurt, and now the last time I am going to see my son is when he is buried.”
Keitha Hunter, Elijay’s grandmother, said it has been an incredibly difficult time for her family, and she doesn’t understand why Harvey would leave the children alone.
“It was a horrible decision, and horrible mistake,” said Hunter. “Even if you’ve done it once or a hundred times and it was OK, it doesn’t matter because anything can happen in a split second.”
Lucus said the only good thing to come out of this tragedy is the incredible amount of support his family has received.
“Our family is so thankful for all the support, love and help,” said Lucus. “God got a new little angel, and I hope he can see how many people are coming together to tell his story and showed how much they loved him.”
If you would like to make a donation to Elijay’s family to help pay for funeral expenses, you can click HERE. If you would like to make a donation to support the Harvey family, you can click HERE.
