Parents of daughter killed in fire face accusations from DFCS
LOGANVILLE, Ga - Their daughter died in a house fire. Their son is charged with intentionally setting that fire. Now, the parents fear they could lose custody of their other children.
Carina McCue broke down in tears talking about her 10-year-old daughter, Zoe.
"Her favorite movie was ‘Frozen.’ Her favorite color was pink. She liked princesses," said Carina McCue.
Zoe died when the family home in Loganville went up in flames Easter morning.
Zoe's mother and siblings made it out safely. Her father and 17-year-old sister were at work.
Police say Zoe's 15-year-old brother intentionally started the fire. He is charged with felony murder, malice murder and arson.
"I love my son and I don't understand this, I really don't. My biggest question is why?" said William McCue.
On top of the loss of their home and their daughter, the McCues are now being accused of abuse and neglect.
The Georgia Division of Family & Children Services says the children don't go to school and haven't left the house in years.
William McCue says they're homeschooled, and they didn't go out very much during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We mainly stayed out of the public eye because of the virus, we were scared to death of it," said McCue.
He says the house he and his wife lived in for 20 years has some problems, such as drainage issues and the plumbing doesn't work, but he says he's working on it.
"I was trying to get some issues fixed, we were trying to get some money and get them fixed," said McCue.
McCue says since the fire, he's been overwhelmed by the number of people who have expressed kindness and offered to help.
"We've always been the kind of people who try to make it on our own instead of take advantage of other people, and maybe we should have asked for help a long time ago on certain things, that's my biggest downfall right there," said McCue.
William and Carina McCue had a custody hearing Monday and are scheduled for another hearing with their children present Thursday.
"I don't know what's going to come up in the future, but we're going to tackle these issues one at a time," said McCue.