AHWATUKEE, AZ — Three people were found dead after an apartment fire broke out Monday morning in Ahwatukee.
The fire started around 6:30 a.m. at a complex near 48th Street and Ray Road.
Crews responded to the scene and found the fire and very heavy smoke in one of the second-floor units.
When firefighters were conducting a search-and-rescue mission for any possible victims, they located three adults in one of the bedrooms. Police confirm the victims are two men and one woman.
The victims all suffered "obvious signs of trauma," police later confirmed. Officials say the trauma "was not related to the fire inside of the apartment."
On Thursday, Phoenix police identified the victims as 37-year-old Samuel Lott, 27-year-old Merissa Honeycutt, and 25-year-old Anthony Frederickson-Ceccarelli.
It's not clear how the three victims knew each other.
Arson investigators and homicide detectives are looking into the incident.
There is no word yet on what caused the fire or what led to the deaths.
On Thursday, ABC15 spoke with the family of Samuel Lott.
”When he didn’t get back to me I knew something was going on,” said Douglas Lott.
Lott says he and brother Samuel talked nearly every other day. When too much time passed without hearing from Sam, Doug said he put out a missing person’s report.
”That’s when a detective contacted me to let me know they found his car outside a burned apartment,” he said.
”Even in his darkest times, he was always trying to help someone else go through the same things. He was a real man of character even when he was struggling,” said Doug about his little brother Sam.
Generosity is how Doug started to describe his brother Sam, especially with his time for those seeking sobriety through AA.
Doug says not long after Christmas last year, the Lott family lost their youngest brother, Charles to the Fentanyl epidemic.
ABC15 has asked Phoenix PD if the crime was drug-related, and they say it's part of the ongoing investigation.
Doug and his family want to know what happened to Sam and the other two victims.
And someone out there knows. If you would like to help, Sam's family has started a GoFundMe account.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (or 480-TESTIGO for Spanish).
