2 families need help after Detroit house fire that killed baby - KMSP-TV

A baby trapped and killed in a fire is waiting to be buried.  Her family can't afford a funeral.  Meanwhile, the family that lived in the house where the victim was staying also needs a lot of help.

Wednesday afternoon, a fire inspector dug through the charred debris looking for clues that will explain how the deadly fire started.

It was just after 1:00 a.m. Saturday when thick, black smoke and orange flames tore through a house on Promenade Street.

"I opened up my door and the flames [were] coming towards the hallway so strong," said Mabeline Baker.

She was watching nine-month-old Akira Perkins Williams for her daughter's friend along with her three grandchildren -- a four-month-old baby boy, a three-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy.  Her adult son was also in the home at the time of the fire.

Akira's baby bottle still lays on the bed where the little girl's lifeless body was discovered.  She was alone in the back bedroom.  Baker says she couldn't reach her.

"I was actually trying to get my son to wake up.  He wouldn't wake up.  I'm trying to get back there to this baby.  I've got three of them in my room," she explained.  "I had to throw them out not even knowing if I might injure on of them, especially the four-month-old baby."

Akira still hasn't been laid to rest.  Her family is trying to raise $1,800 to pay for her funeral.

Mabeline, already struggling to make ends meet, has no money to help with the burial.

"I loved that baby like she [was] my own grandchild," she said.

The Bakers are mourning the loss of Akira while trying to find a way to go on.  They lost all of their possessions and don't have insurance.

The American Red Cross is helping out the Baker family.  They put them up in a motel, but their time is running out.  The landlord has even paid for the next few nights.  After that, they don't know where they're going to go.

"We'll have to start all over again," said Falisha Baker.

"God bless somebody to help me out where... my kids [and I] can get off the street when my funds for the hotel [are] up because I [don't] have any more money and I can't even get my medicine.  It's just messed up," said Mabeline.

Until the money runs out, nine members of the Baker family will crowd into one room at the Shore Crest Motel near downtown Detroit.  All they have to their names is packed into the tiny room, but they know they are the lucky ones.  They made it out alive.