A 5-year-old boy sleeping on the second floor of his New York home was killed in a targeted house fire, and the person accused of starting the blaze is set to stand trial this week, with her own sister expected to testify against her, according to reports.
Taquida Hendrix, 31, is charged with murder and arson in connection with a house fire in Rochester that killed Malakai Stovall in July 2024, according to prosecutors and the boy’s family, as reported by local ABC affiliate WHAM.
Flames ripped through Stovall’s home on July 28 at around 2 a.m., after Hendrix and her sister, Tiakayla Hendrix, 21, and a third defendant, Roy Chambers, arrived to set it on fire in retaliation for an alleged attack on the Hendrixes’ father earlier that day, according to prosecutors. According to WHAM, the trio believed that someone involved in the alleged attack lived there.
Taquida Hendrix allegedly poured gasoline on the two-story house and set it on fire while Tiakayla Hendrix and Chambers kept an eye on things, according to the pair. Malakai was seriously injured in the fire and died several days later at a nearby hospital.
“My baby was up there [in the house] for 21 minutes with no heartbeat,” Malakai’s mother, Brianna Akers, told WHAM on July 31.
Tiakayla Hendrix and Chambers were both charged with murder and arson, but prosecutors say they agreed to plea deals on the arson charge last month in exchange for their testimony against Taquida Hendrix. Tiakayla Hendrix was accused of purchasing the lighter that started the fire, but she did not take part in it.
According to her lawyer, “She certainly did not know there was a child inside that building at the time,” reports WHAM. “She had no role in actually starting the fire,” the lawyer explained.
Karen Mitchell, Malakai’s grandmother, told local media that the family was surprised by the plea deals and expected all three people to face trial.
I just cried. Mitchell told WHAM, “It’s very bittersweet.” “I want them to understand it wasn’t just, you know, this 5-year-old, or this little boy, who died in a fire; he was a little boy who lived, and he loved life.”
Mitchell continued: “These people were the lookouts to make sure no one caught them setting a fire that ended my grandson’s life.”
Taquida Hendrix is currently being held at the Monroe County Jail as her trial continues. Tiakayla Hendrix and Chambers are scheduled to be sentenced on September 29.
