Lawsuit settled more than 4 years after 2 children killed in South Union Township house fire

SOUTH UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa. — More than four years after two young siblings lost their lives in a house fire, their family is finally getting some closure.

But it’s very bittersweet for their family.

Last week, their father settled a lawsuit against the landlord’s insurance company, but as Channel 11′s Cara Sapida learned, it comes just days after his wife unexpectedly lost her life.

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As the fire broke out, the children’s parents could not get through a wall of flames to get to their bedroom. Their mom, DeAnna, kept in touch with 11 News for years to update us on a lawsuit she filed. Last weekend she passed away, just days before she was to have her day in court.

“DeAnna was a stage four breast cancer patient at the time. She promised her children she would fight and overcome it. She did overcome it,” said DeAnna’s mother.

DeAnna Weasonforth was fighting breast cancer in January 2019, and her biggest fear was her children losing her.

Then, the unimaginable happened. She lost them as a house fire broke out inside their South Union Township home. RyLeigh and Gunner, just 7 and 5 years old, were found holding onto one another.

We spoke to the children’s grandmother on Friday, a day she’s been anticipating for four years: mediation with the family’s landlord’s insurance company.

DeAnna was suing them over faulty electrical wiring. DeAnna had reached out to Channel 11 just weeks ago to update us on this important day, hoping for justice and closure for her children. And last week, just two days before Mother’s Day, she went into cardiac arrest and died.

“She went into cardiac arrest three times, which caused lack of oxygen to the brain,” explained DeAnna’s mother.

DeAnna had stage four breast cancer, publically sharing how her doctors called her a walking miracle when scans showed her cancer free. She credited her children in heaven watching over her.

It wasn’t cancer, but her heart that failed, four years after it was forever broken.

“She did have a broken heart, for four years, DeAnna was shattered. She stayed secluded, she had such survivor’s grief and she just wanted to be with her babies, that’s all she ever wanted was to be back with her babies and she is. And they met her, yes, best Mother’s Day she has ever had in four years and I believe that wholeheartedly,” said DeAnna’s mother.

That lawsuit was settled by DeAnna’s husband. He is not allowed to speak out on the case or the settlement, but he also told Channel 11 his wife had the Mother’s Day she wanted with her babies.

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