Gwinnett County House Fire Leaves 10-Year-Old Girl Dead

10-Year-Old Girl Dies In Gwinnett County House Fire

Gwinnett County police said the house fire that claimed the life of a 10-year-old girl on Easter Sunday was intentionally set. Police have since said the child’s death is being treated as a homicide investigation.

Gwinnett Fire Department Arson investigators said the fire was intentionally set by one of the girl’s siblings. Officials said crews arrived at Beaver Road at about 4:57 a.m. and found a burning one-story home.

“Once our crews arrived on scene we had heavy fire involvement throughout the entire front of the structure, it was just hidden away from a small wood line,” said Lt. Justin Wilson with the Gwinnett County Fire Department. “When we were arriving on scene, we had reports of two people being trapped inside the home, a 10-year-old girl, and a 15-year-old boy.”

The ten-year-old girl was Zoe McCue. Firefighters found her deceased in the home. Fire crews searched for the 15-year-old for hours. He was later found outside the home around 9 a.m.

“Through coordination and cooperation with the Gwinnett County police investigators and Gwinnett County Fire Arson investigators, it was determined that this fire was arson and intentional in nature,” Investigator Christian D’Allaird with the Gwinnett County Police Department said.

William McCue was at work with his teenaged daughter at the time of the fire. A coworker broke the news to him.

“I went over to her, and she told me I had to go home, there was a fire,” he said. “I tried to get a hold of my wife and she answered the phone and said, come home.” When he got home, he saw the devastation.

He recalls his 10-year-old daughter lovingly. “She kind of like take the lead and be in charge. She’s a handful of a ten year and wants to be the boss of everybody. That’s little Zoe,” he said.