Chicago Tribune

9-year-old central Illinois boy charged with murder in fatal fire that killed 5 'made a terrible mistake,' but he's 'not a monster,' mom says

GOODFIELD, Ill. - The mother of a 9-year-old boy charged with murder in a fire that killed four of his relatives and the mother's fiance said her son is "not a monster."

"He made a terrible mistake," Katie Alwood, 28, said of her 9-year-old son. "He's a child."

People should instead "pray that he gets the help he needs," she said Thursday in an interview with the Tribune.

The fire, which took place in early April in a mobile home east of Peoria, claimed the lives of the 9-year-old's two half-siblings, a cousin, his mother's fiance and his great-grandmother.

Woodford County State's Attorney Gregory Minger confirmed Thursday that a 9-year-old was charged with five counts of first-degree murder,

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