Quantcast

Mother, 3 Kids Killed in Shirley Fire

A mother and her three children were killed in a house fire in Shirley Friday night, Suffolk County police said.

Jennifer McCusker, 41, and her three children—7-year-old Aidan Tarbell and 2-year-old twins Ava Jane Mistretta and Brendan Mistretta—were transported to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center where they were pronounced dead, police said.

McCusker and the twins were found inside a room with two cribs and Tarbell was discovered in an adjoining room, a police spokeswoman said.

Police first received reports of the blaze on Hollywood Drive at 10:15 p.m. when a neighbor called 911 as her two sons—one an EMT and the other a volunteer firefighter—tried to enter the house but were pushed back by the smoke and heat, police said.

The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office will perform an autopsy on the four victims to determine the cause of death, police said.

Police did not say what sparked the fire nor did they say if it is considered suspicious.

Suffolk police homicide and arson section detectives are investigating the blaze, police said.

Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.