LAKEWOOD, Colo (KDVR) — Shiona Owens knew she had just moments to act as flames started to spread through her Tiffany Square apartment unit.
The mother of two described those moments to FOX31’s Evan Kruegel for the first time Friday, nearly two weeks after the deadly fire.
“There was smoke in my unit, so I went to the front door. The doorknob wasn’t hot so I opened the door and saw the flames and was like, ‘Oh my God, we have to go!'”
Owens said she quickly realized the only way out was through her bedroom window, nearly 15 feet above the ground.
“I told my daughter, ‘Babe you have to jump.’ And she was like, ‘No mom I’m scared. I don’t want to jump.'” Owens said. “I was like, ‘we have to get out of here or we’re going to die.’ So she jumped, and then I put my son in the window, and just had to dangle him because he’s small, he’s 5, so I had to dangle him out and let him fall down to her.”
Owens said nobody was seriously injured, but her legs and back have hurt ever since.
The family is now displaced, and unsure when they’ll be allowed to return home.
They’ve started a fundraiser to replace the items they believe are lost forever.
Kathleen Payton, 31, and her 10-year-old daughter, Jazmine Payton-Aguayo, were killed in the blaze. Ten people were injured and every resident in the 32-unit complex of Tiffany Square was displaced.
District Attorney Alexis King officially filed the charges Thursday but prosecutors have not decided if the 12-year-old boy and 14-year-old boy will be tried as adults. The charges and counts the two are facing are:
- Two counts of first-degree murder – extreme indifference
- 39 counts of attempted first-degree murder – extreme indifference
- 15 counts of first-degree arson
- One count of felony criminal mischief
- One count of misdemeanor criminal mischief
- 42 aggravated juvenile offender sentence enhancers
The boys were arrested on Nov. 6 by Lakewood police and are being held without bond and will be back in court on Monday.