Isiah Jamal Pierce and his partner were sleeping in their bedroom with her 1-year-old daughter, Mahogany R. Brownlow, when fire broke out in their Laurel, Miss., home during the night of Dec. 19, 2018. Waking, 27-year-old Pierce, a poultry plant worker, attempted to douse the flames with buckets of water, while his partner guided her three oldest children outside to safety. The fire grew and spread, and Pierce exited the home. Outside, Mahogany’s mother and Pierce realized the baby was still inside. Pierce took a deep breath and ran back into the burning home as dense, black smoke filled an interior hallway. He did not return outside. Fire engulfed the home, and firefighters could not enter it until after the fire was extinguished. They eventually found the bodies of Mahogany and Pierce in the bedroom, where they had died of smoke inhalation.
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