4-year-old 'ray of sunshine' remembered after dying in Milwaukee apartment fire
CBS 58 MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The woman pulled from an apartment complex that caught fire on Monday remains hospitalized in critical condition and hasn't woken up yet, according to family members.
The Milwaukee Fire Department responded to calls of a fire at the intersection of 32nd and Wells on Monday around 11 a.m.
Despite being taken to the hospital, 4-year-old Xiomara Jermino, who family described as "a joy," passed away.
"She was just such a bubbly girl, a ray of sunshine. She’d come to my mom’s house and play with our dog and ride her bike," shared Xiomara's cousin, Alejandra Angeles.
A few days after the fire, Xiomara Jermino's cousins, Alejandra and Ana Angeles, remember and mourn their cousin. Alejandra said that Xiomara, just last week, had gotten over her fear of going in Lake Michigan, going in the water with her parents.
Xiomara's mother, Katharina, is still in the hospital in critical condition and unconscious. Ana says she still has surgeries and a long recovery ahead of her, as well as learning of a devastating loss.
"She was a really kind person, a devoted mother. They were always together... Xiomara was Katharina's mini-me, and they looked just alike. She, right now, still doesn’t know what happened to her little girl. It’s really, really sad," said Ana.
Katharina's husband, Eduardo, was at work when the fire broke out. Ana says he's heartbroken, planning his daughter's funeral by himself while his wife remains hospitalized.
"He keeps saying he hoped his daughter would one day bury him and not the other way around. It's truly heartbreaking," continued Ana.
Fire Chief Aaron Lipski this week told CBS 58 the death and injury could have been prevented if fire sprinklers were installed, but the building was not required to have them because of its age. Ana and Alejandra said, "We want to advocate that apartments should require sprinklers, so other families don’t have to experience what we’re going through...you can’t put a price on a life, and when tragedies like this happen, it affects families forever. You’re not going to get over this."
A GoFundMe has been created to help the family cover the costs of Xiomara's funeral and Katharina's hospitalization. You can find that through this link.
The Milwaukee Fire Department says they're still investigating the cause of the fire.
