BRADENTON – An 11-month-old Bradenton boy died in a fire Wednesday night, and the family is left heartbroken following the tragedy.
“He was so precious he was just coming into himself, Laughing a lot!” said the grandmother of the 11-month-old.
Debra Robinson says her 11-month-old grandson Lazier Joshua Bennett was full of life.
“He liked to just bounce around,” Robinson said.
Manatee County deputies report they heard screaming coming from the apartment complex located on 4307 9th St. E. Wednesday night to find a structure on fire.
Soon after arriving deputies learned that an 11-month-old boy was unaccounted for. In that moment the second floor was engulfed in flames and the roof was beginning to collapse.
“Trying to use water – trying to get the mattress out of there,” said Robinson. “They did what they could to try to get him but then the fire went to the roof then dropped to the floor and they couldn’t get by to get him.”
Their neighbor Faith Booth didn’t witness the fire. She learned of the tragedy when she woke up to the destruction.
“It just hurts me to my heart because here you have a baby that was just brought into the world and know he’s gone,” said Booth. “And he didn’t even get a chance to see what the world was about.”
Investigators tells us seven people, including two children managed to escape. One family member did suffered burns while trying to go back into the apartment to locate and rescue baby lazier.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
No arrests have been made in connection to the fire. We have yet to receive any updates on the condition of the other family member burned at this time.
Lazier’s grandmother tells us the toddler would’ve turned one next month on August 2nd.
