KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City father is mourning the loss of his daughter after she died in what police are calling a “suspicious” apartment fire.
“I got a phone call and then I hear my child is dead,” said Salum Elia, the father of two-year-old Calia Elia, who police say recently died in a “suspicious” fire at her mother’s apartment near East 13th and Vine Streets.
Calia’s three-year-old sister, Elena, suffered severe burns in the fire and remains hospitalized as of Monday. The two girls’ mother, Marie Chishahayo, 36, has been charged with four counts of child abuse and neglect.
The children’s father told FOX 4’s Robert Townsend Monday that he and his wife are separated.
Salum, who’s also Somalian, speaks very little English. He tells Robert his three-year-old is trying to recover and no funeral arrangements have been set for his two-year-old. Chishahayo remains in jail on a $250,000 bond.
“I just want to know what happened to my daughter,” said Elia.
Prosecutors said Friday that the case remains under investigation and charges may be amended upon the completion of a medical examiner’s report.
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