EDMONTON — The father of a five-month-old baby who was killed in a suspicious Edmonton house fire says he’s offering a reward for any information that leads to an arrest.
Cordell Brown says he was sleeping on the main floor of his home on Tuesday morning when he awoke to find his porch on fire.
Brown says his wife, Angie Tang, was asleep on the second floor with their son Hunter.
Brown and six others who lived in the house were able to escape on their own.
Firefighters rescued Tang and Hunter but the baby died of smoke inhalation.
Police homicide and arson units are investigating.
Brown urged people to “do what’s right” and get in touch with police.
“I’ve decided to offer a $25,000 reward for anyone who provides the information that leads to the … arrest and prosecution of the person or persons who, first of all, arsoned the house and, secondly, murdered my son as a result of the arson, and who attempted to murder myself and the rest of my family,” Brown said Thursday.
“I hope that by offering this money, that I can make the streets of Edmonton safer, so that no other babies are murdered in this way, I think the people that did this are animals. They deserve to be in jail.”
Tang remains in hospital under sedation.
Brown said doctors brought his wife out of sedation briefly, and he and other family members told her that Hunter had died.
“Took eight of us to hold her down. She didn’t take that very well and she was re-sedated,” he said.
“Doctors were saying there was pretty serious damage to her lungs and all of her airway, and there are burns from the smoke because she was in the fire for almost 20 minutes.”
CTV also reported that Brown was charged earlier this year with having stolen fire extinguishers in his possession. When asked about the charge, Brown said he didn’t want to comment.
He added another nearby rental property he owns was also vandalized around the same time of the fire.
A former neighbour of that property said ambulances and fire trucks showed up frequently there.