Fire that killed 3 children in Gary ruled arson

A fire that killed three young children at an apartment complex Friday night in Gary was intentionally set, authorities said.

The Lake County coroner’s office identified a girl and boy as 4-year-old Alaya Pickens and 5-year-old Jayden Mitchell, who lived in the 3500 block of West 20th Avenue in Gary. On Monday, the coroner’s office identified the third child, a cousin, as a 2-year-old girl, Yaleah Cohen, who lived in the apartment where she died.

A woman jumped from a second-story window to escape the flames and heavy smoke, fire officials said. She was taken to a hospital with burns and was expected to survive, according to police and fire officials.

Fire crews responded at 11:26 p.m. to the blaze in one unit of the Oak Knoll Renaissance apartment complex in the 4400 block of West 23rd Court in Gary, according to the Gary Fire Department.

Once the fire was brought under control nearly an hour later, firefighters found two of her children dead in separate beds on the second floor, and a third child dead on a staircase, fire officials said.

The fire has been ruled an arson, Gary Fire Department spokesman Mark Jones said Monday afternoon.

The Lake County Metro Homicide Unit and the Indiana State Fire Marshal are among the agencies investigating the fire, according to police and the coroner’s office.