2 sentenced to prison for deaths of 3 kids in Michigan fire

FLINT, Mich. – Two people blamed for the deaths of three children in a Flint, Michigan house fire have each been sentenced to 18 to 36 years in prison.

The mother of two of the children, Erica Starkey, and her acquaintance, Rodney King Jr., were sentenced Wednesday. Police say King set Starkey’s house on fire after she left on an early-morning trip to buy crack cocaine in June 2016. The Flint Journal reports both offered apologies during sentencing.

Starkey pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and other charges related to the fire while King pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and arson.

Four-year-old Kayden Hull died in a bedroom that was locked from the outside with a padlock. The other victims were 13-year-old Onyah Starkey and a friend, 14-year-old Brianna Beaushaw.

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Information from: The Flint Journal, http://www.mlive.com/flint