the father went out to buy cigarettes and left the kids alone, had he not gone out to buy cigarettes, these kids would still be alive….. time to ban cigarettes?
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http://www.clickondetroit.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-55867120010326-070329.html

5 Children Die In Chicago Fire
Children Left Alone In West Side Apartment
CHICAGO, 7:07 p.m. EST March 26, 2001 — A Chicago man faces child endangerment charges after police said that he left five young children alone in an apartment that caught fire Sunday night.

All five children, who ranged in age from one to five, died in the fire.

Chicago Police news affairs Officer Kevin Haley said that 28-year-old Antoine Lee was the father of four of the children and the stepfather of the fifth. Police said that Lee went out to buy cigarettes and that the children’s mother was at work.

Chicago Fire Department Commander Tim Stokes said that the fire was reported shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday at a two story brick building on Chicago’s west side. The cause is undetermined.

The children were found in the living room and an adjoining small bedroom, Fire Lieutenant Don Lee said

The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the children as 1-year-old Patrick Lee, 2-year-old LeShon Anderson, 4-year-old Domeinique Wyma, 4-year-old Tonia Anderson and 5-year-old Demetri Wyma.