Mother dies after SW Miami-Dade house fire that also killed baby, great-grandmother

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A woman whose 4-month-old son was killed along with the child’s great-grandmother during a weekend fire at their southwest Miami-Dade duplex has died, authorities said.

According to detectives, Rukiyah Kendrick, 19, was pronounced dead Wednesday after she was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center for treatment following a blaze that swept through the family’s home early Saturday morning.

The woman’s infant child, identified as Legend Larose, and the baby’s 70-year-old great-grandmother died Saturday after firefighters pulled them from the burning home.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue received reports around 3:30 a.m., of a first-alarm fire near the 101500 block of West Circle Plaza in West Perrine.

According to authorities, fire units arrived to find flames coming from a residential structure with multiple occupants trapped inside.

Officials said firefighters were able to put the fire out and the occupants were taken out of the structure.

“They made every best effort to make sure they suppressed the fire, but mainly pull out the three victims and make sure they got transported to the hospital,” said MDFR Division Chief Ralph Baena.

According to MDFR, three patients, one pediatric and two adults were trauma alerts and transported to the Jackson Memorial South Ryder Trauma Center.

Miami-Dade police were also at the scene to assist with the victims.

Charlene Brooks, a family member, told Local 10 News that Legend was full of life and is devastated over the tragedy.

“Legend was so adorable. He would’ve been 4 months old today,” said Brooks. “He lights up the room and loved to laugh. That was his mom’s first baby.”

“My sister got a call from one of the neighbors and said that there was a fire and that they were doing CPR on her daughter, the grandbaby and the daughter’s boyfriend and said that it wasn’t looking good,” Brooks said.

According to Brooks, when rescue units arrived, six people were trapped in the house and several others suffered severe burns and were transported to a nearby hospital.

“What happened? What was the cause of the fire, and how long was she unconscious before fire rescue got there?” she asked.

Firefighters believe the fire might have started in the bedroom.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

No other information has been released.

This is a developing story.

Local 10 News reporter Cody Weddle contributed to this story.


About the Authors
Annaliese Garcia headshot

Annaliese Garcia joined Local 10 News in January 2020. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career at Univision. Before arriving at Local 10, she was with NBC2 (WBBH-TV) covering Southwest Florida. She's glad to be back in Miami!

Ryan Mackey headshot

Ryan Mackey is a Digital Journalist at WPLG. He was born in Long Island, New York, and has lived in Sunrise, Florida since 1994.

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