Mom in house fire dies 1 day after her baby

Fatal house fire not believed to be arson, official says.

One day after a 3-monthold girl was killed in a northwest Atlanta house fire, the baby’s mother died, officials said Tuesday.

Rhonda Johnson, 29, died Friday at a local hospital, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Firefighters responded to the area of Paines Avenue between Fox Street and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway about 2 a.m. Thursday, Atlanta fire Sgt. Cortez Stafford said.

They discovered fire coming out of the front door and smoke and fire billowing out of the windows, he said.

The house appeared to be vacant, with security screens up and boards on the window, Stafford said.

After firefighters knocked down some of the flames, they found the mother with burns to the majority of her body in a back room.

She was taken out of a back window so crews wouldn’t have to take her through the front of the home, which was still burning, Stafford said.

“As they got deeper into the house and got some of the fire knocked down, they also discovered an infant in the home,” he said. “And that infant was discovered to be deceased on scene, unfortunately.”

Authorities do not believe the fire was an act of arson.

“There’s no reason to believe that this fire is suspicious at this time,” Stafford said.

JOHN SPINK / AJC Atlanta Fire Rescue investigators joined with ATF investigators at the scene where a 3-month-old girl was killed on Paines Avenue in northwest Atlanta on March 23. The baby’s mother died from burns the next day.