Fire tape blocks off the scene. Officials searched the house for two days after the blaze was put out, gathering information about the fire. Arson investigator Sgt. Lenny Jaskulka confirmed that the fire on the couch was started by an open flame, like a lighter, and a heat source like a cigarette.

Jake May | MLive.com

June 10, 2016

On June 10, 2016, a fire was set in a house on 643 Vermilya in Flint, killing three children. Erica Marie Starkey, 39, two the children’s mother, and Rodney Dale King Jr., 40, face charges and the possibility of life in prison without parole.

Don't Edit

Four-year-old Kayden Hull, left, with his 13-year-old sister, Onyah Starkey. Both children perished in the fire.

Courtesy photo

Kayden Hull

Police say the door on the first-floor bedroom of Starkey’s son, 4-year-old Kayden Hull, was locked with a padlock. Firefighters found his body wedged between a dresser and a bed. He was pronounced dead the same day at Hurley Medical Center.

Don't Edit

According to the mother of Brianna Beaushaw, the third victim in the fire, Onyah Starkey, was "caring and sympathetic." A few months before her death, she had shaved her head in solidarity for her mother, Erica, who had cancer. A friend posted this tribute video to YouTube.

Onyah Starkey

Firefighters found Starkey’s daughter, 13-year-old Onyah Starkey, and her friend, 14-year-old Brianna Beaushaw “motionless” in the doorway of a second-floor bedroom. Like her brother, Onyah Starkey was pronounced dead the same day at Hurley Medical Center.

Don't Edit

Kelley has vowed to attend every court appearance in the murder case to "seek justice for the three children."

Photo courtesy of Schuyler Kelley

Brianna Beaushaw

Brianna Beaushaw, 14, was pronounced dead on June 12 from injuries sustained in the blaze. According to her mother, Schuyler Kelly, Beaushaw had “big dreams” and wanted to be the first in her family to graduate from college. She dreamt of attending Princeton to become a heart surgeon or history teacher, and was part of Mott Community College’s Upward Bound program, which guides students from under-privileged schools on a path to college.

Don't Edit

Investigators believe King started the fire after Erica Starkey left to go buy more drugs using King's money and didn't return.

Courtesy | Genesee County Sheriff's Office

Rodney Dale King Jr.

King, of Burton, faces three counts of felony murder, punishable by life without parole; and a count of first-degree arson, punishable by life with the possibility of parole.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Both Starkey and King face charges of felony murder, punishable by life without parole.

Courtesy | Genesee Counthy Sheriff's Office

Erica Marie Starkey

Starkey, the mother of Kayden and Onyah, faces a total of 11 counts:

Felony murder, punishable by life without parole

Two counts of second-degree murder, punishable by life in prison with the possibility of parole

Three counts of second-degree child abuse, punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment

Three counts of unlawful imprisonment, punishable by up to 15 years

Two counts of killing an animal - because two dogs died in the fire - punishable by up to four years.

Don't Edit

Teardrops remain on the jumpsuit of Erica Marie Starkey as she walks out of Genesee District Judge M. Cathy Dowd's courtroom after a recess of the preliminary examination for Rodney Dale King and Starkey on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016, at Genesee District Court in downtown Flint, in a case involving a fatal fire at 643 Vermilya Ave., where three children died June 10, 2016. The preliminary examination was scheduled to continue at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 20.

Jake May | MLive.com

Disorder in the court

During a preliminary exam on Thursday, Oct. 6, Starkey was removed from the courtroom after an outburst.

“He (expletive) killed my kids,” Starkey cried, referring to King, who sat at the same table. “I can’t do this.”

Don't Edit

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announces multiple felony murder charges to two people -- Burton resident Rodney Dale King, 40, and Flint resident Erica Marie Starkey, 39 -- on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, at the prosecutor's office. The charges are in relation to a house fire that killed three children on June 10 at 643 Vermilya Ave. on Flint's south side. King faces three counts of felony murder, punishable by life without parole and a count of first-degree arson, punishable by life with the possibility of parole. Starkey, the mother of 4-year-old Kaydon Hull and 13-year-old Onyah Starkey who died in the fire, faces a count of felony murder, two counts of second-degree murder, three counts of second-degree child abuse, three counts of unlawful imprisonment and two counts of killing an animal. Leyton said two dogs in the home died as a result of the fire.

Jake May | MLive.com

The following is a timeline of what authorities say happened in the early-morning hours of June 10.

Don't Edit

Rodney Dale King Jr. listens to the questioning of Michigan State Police Specialist Sgt. Lenny Jaskulka, a fire investigator and prosecutor's second witness, during the preliminary examination for King Jr. and Erica Marie Starkey on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016, at Genesee District Court in downtown Flint, in a case involving a fatal fire at 643 Vermilya Ave., where three children died June 10, 2016.

Jake May | MLive.com

3 a.m.

King was walking home from a bar and encountered Erica Starkey on the street. They met up, agreed to go to Starkey's home at 643 Vermilya and do crack-cocaine, Prosecutor David Leyton previously said.

Don't Edit

The scene of the June 10 house fire, 643 Vermilya.

Jake May | MLive.com

3:30 a.m.

They left that home around 3:30 a.m. in an attempt to find more drugs, Leyton said.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Authorities were able to confirm the timeline of what happened by viewing footage from a neighbor's security camera, aimed at the house.

Gary Ridley | MLive.com

3:45 a.m.

Starkey and King went back to Starkey's home, where the three children slept.

Don't Edit

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton holds a photo from the investigation that shows a padlock on one of the children's bedroom doors as he announces multiple felony murder charges to two people -- Burton resident Rodney Dale King, 40, and Flint resident Erica Marie Starkey, 39 -- on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, at the prosecutor's office in Flint.

Jake May | MLive.com

4 a.m.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton claimed King gave Starkey money to buy additional crack-cocaine. Prosecutors allege she left to find the cocaine, and King fell asleep on the couch.

Don't Edit

Rodney Dale King Jr. listens to the first witness -- Lt. Gerald Hunt -- during the preliminary examination for Erica Marie Starkey and himself on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016 at Genesee District Court in downtown Flint, in a case involving a fatal fire at 643 Vermilya Ave., where three children died June 10, 2016.

Jake May | MLive.com

5:50 a.m.

King wakes up, and finds that Starkey still has not returned. Authorities believe she went to another home, did more drugs and some drinking. She never returned. According to Leyton, King believed Starkey stole the money and had no intentions of returning with drugs. Angry, he sets the couch on fire, unaware three children were sleeping in the home. He then left the home, Leyton said.

On Dec. 8, Detective Trooper Stacey Moore testified that a neighbor’s surveillance camera pointed at the house captured King leaving the home minutes before a plume of smoke appeared.

Don't Edit

The doorway of the second-floor bedroom where firefighters found the motionless bodies of Onyah Starkey and Brianna Beaushaw. The photo from the investigation was shown during Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton's announcement of multiple felony murder charges to Starkey and King.

Jake May | MLive.com

6:05 a.m.

911 is called. Leyton said the recording sounds like a child inside the home and there are clearly smoke alarms going off in the background.

According to testimony from arson investigator Sgt. Lenny Jaskulka on Dec. 8, the alarms sounded in the house for two days while firefighters investigated the scene. Judge Dowd listened to the 911 call in closed chambers.

Don't Edit

A padlock was found on the first-floor door where firefighters found Kayden Hull wedged between a mattress and a dresser. According to Jaskulka, it took two firefighters to push a heavy bedframe - propped on its side across the entrance to the stairs - out of the way in order to access the two girls on the second level. While ruling in the preliminary examination, Judge M. Cathy Dowd said the position of the bed frame was "crucial" in binding over the unlawful imprisonment charges against Starkey.In his testimony, Jaskulka also noted that a two-by-four wooden plank was mounted across the home's front door, barring entrance.

Jake May | MLive.com

6:14 a.m.

The Flint Fire Department arrives on scene. The three children are located within the house and rushed to Hurley Medical Center, where Hull and Starkey were pronounced dead the same day. Beaushaw died Sunday, June 12.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Rodney Dale King Jr., right, and Erica Marie Starkey wait to start their preliminary examination on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016, at Genesee District Court in downtown Flint. The two were seated at the same table throughout the multiple-day preliminary exam.

Jake May | MLive.com

The trial

On Thursday, Dec. 8, Judge M. Cathy Dowd ruled to bind Starkey and King over on all charges.

The two will be tried in the Genesee Circuit Court by Judge Geoffrey Neithercut.