FLORA, Ind. – Crews tore down the Flora home where four children died in a fire nearly seven years ago.
A judge approved a demolition order for the residence, located at 103 E. Columbia Street in Flora, earlier this year. The Aug. 16 order indicated there was no reason to preserve the property.
The November 2016 house fire resulted in the deaths of 11-year-old Keyana Davis, 9-year-old Keyara Phillips, 7-year-old Kerriele McDonald and 5-year-old Kionnie Welch.
The home has been at the center of the investigation since the tragedy. Two months after the blaze, police and fire officials confirmed it was being investigated as an arson.
No one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with the fire.
In May 2023, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said the girls’ mother, Gaylin Rose, was not considered a suspect in the unsolved case. It marked the first time investigators had disclosed whether or not a person was a suspect in the case.
Rose maintained she didn’t know who would’ve wanted to set the house on fire. She moved away from Flora a year after the fire to get away from the “horrible loss of her daughters.”
In September 2023, a settlement was reached on behalf of Rose in a civil lawsuit filed against her landlord’s company. Details of the settlement are confidential.
