Tragic Story of 3 Kids
Wisconsin father Joshua Kannin told police he panicked after realizing his home was on fire, leaving his three children inside while he ran to get help, according to a search warrant. He ended up being the sole survivor — and now their mom is asking why he left their kids behind.
Jourdan Feasby says Thanksgiving morning with her three children — Rylee, 10, Connor, 9 and Alena, 7 — before she dropped them off at their dad’s two-story apartment. Hours later, she learned her boys had perished in a fire and her daughter had been hospitalized.
In the hospital with their daughter, who later died, Feasby says she asked Kannin, “You wouldn’t grab the kids first?”
“Things weren’t adding up,” she claims.
Kannin told police that around 9:00 p.m. on Nov. 27, Rylee and Conner went to sleep in their bedroom on the second floor. He himself went to bed about an hour later, at which time his daughter “was awake” and inside the room.
According to a search warrant, Kannin said that when he woke up a short time later — officials responded to the fire just before 11:00 p.m. — his “his eyes felt cloudy” and that when he went downstairs, he saw “a little fire on the kitchen floor.”
“Joshua stated he panicked and walked out the front door,” police wrote, saying the father told them he thought to himself, “I have to get help.”
As he was banging on his neighbor’s door, screaming for help, he yelled to his kids to come downstairs, according to the warrant.
“I opened the door (to his residence) and I heard my kids. I tried to go back in, but smoke just came at me and I couldn’t see. I barely got two steps in and I had to turn back around,” Kannin was quoted as telling police. “When I opened the door, it made it even worse.”
He also stated that prior to going to bed, he had a cigarette in the kitchen by the sink, but that he believed he extinguished it prior to going to sleep.
When first responders arrived, they found two children who were believed to be deceased — later identified as brothers Rylee and Connor — and another child who was severely burned.
The area where they were found is the kitchen/dining room area of the apartment, Feasby says.
Alena, described in the report as being found either in the second floor bedroom or near the stairwell, was taken to a nearby hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Kannin was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation. Feasby says he was released the following morning.
In response to the release of a search warrant, the Kenosha Police Department issued a clarification regarding the status of their ongoing investigation.
The warrant stated the investigators were examining the possibility of arson and potential homicide. Under Wisconsin law, law enforcement must outline potential criminal charges when applying for a search warrant in order to establish probable cause.
The search warrant made public was drafted on the night of the fire after a black Samsung cell phone belonging to Kannin was recovered at the scene. The phone was subsequently searched in accordance with the warrant. That search did not reveal any evidence of criminal activity related to the fire.
“As the investigation progresses, in conjunction with the Kenosha Fire Department, they will continue to methodically rule out all possible causes of the fire,” KPD spokesman Lt. Joshua Hecker said. “This is a complex and evolving case, and we remain committed to a thorough, impartial, and evidence-driven investigation.”
On Friday, services were held for the three siblings. Feasby, who spoke about her children during the services, says Kannin attended, but did not speak to the mourners gathered there. A GoFundMe has been established to pay for funeral costs.
