Police release suspect in Chicago fire that killed 4

CHICAGO — Police released a man Thursday who they were questioning about a massive apartment building fire earlier this week that killed three children and one adult.

Authorities took the man into custody Tuesday after more than 200 firefighters put out the blaze that killed three children —ages 7, 4 and 3 months — and a 56-year-old man.

The man was taken into custody after witnesses told investigators they believed he intentionally set the fire following an argument with someone who lived in the building, police said. But on Thursday morning, authorities released the man without charges.

“The detectives are continuing to investigate, but he’s not going to be charged with this crime right now,” said Officer Nicole Trainor, a police department spokeswoman. “It’s an ongoing investigation, so if they discover further evidence he could be rearrested at a later date.”

The three-alarm fire quickly spread through the building’s second and third floors and lead to several victims jumping out of windows in an attempt to escape. Among the jumpers was Michael Watson, who grabbed his 3-month-old daughter, Melanie, and jumped out of the burning building.

Watson was critically injured, while the infant died from her injuries from the fall and carbon monoxide poisoning.

The deaths of the child and Kirk Johnson, the man killed in the blaze, were both ruled homicides, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Authorities have yet to release findings from the autopsies of the two older children killed in the fire.

Federal agents are assisting Chicago arson investigators as they try to determine the exact cause of the blaze.

Follow Paste BN Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad