Duluth fire victims identified

By Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The sisters who died in Friday's fire in Duluth have been identified as 12-year-old Amirra Wingfield, 17-year-old Dairien Wingfield and 19-year-old LaToya Jackson.

They died of smoke inhalation, Ted Bailey, chief investigator for the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's Office, said Sunday.

A massive fire trapped the girls on the third floor of their Duluth townhouse Friday night. One of them was able to call 911 before they became trapped in a closet.

Their mother also was in the townhouse when the fire started, but she escaped unharmed by jumping off the back balcony, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services spokesman Capt. Tommy Rutledge said.

Firefighters were able to pull out the badly burned girls, but the two younger sisters died at Gwinnett Medical Center that night. Jackson passed away late Saturday evening.

Investigators believe the fire started in a bedroom on the main level, but an exact cause has not been identified.

-- Staff writers Rhonda Cook and Mashaun D. Simon contributed to this article.