Father of 6 children killed in South Bend house fire speaks out

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - When six children died in a house fire in South Bend back in January, they became known as the “Smith6.”

Their grieving father, David Smith, hadn’t made any public comments about the profound loss he endured… until today.

The fire back on Jan. 21 in the 200 block of N. LaPorte Avenue took the lives of 17-month-old Faith Smith, 4-year-old D’Angelo Smith, 5-year-old Deontay Smith, 9-year-old Davida Smith, 10-year-old Demetris Smith, and 11-year-old Angel Smith.

David — the only survivor of the blaze — shared his story exclusively with our own Joshua Short.

Josh’s interview with David was close to an hour. And by the end of it, there was still this feeling they were only “just starting” to scratch the surface.

They covered a lot, including where David was the night the fire happened.

JOSH: What’s on your heart right now weeks after burying your six children?

DAVID: Mostly the loss of them. Thinking of the things that I would be doing today with them. You know, just after thoughts. The loss of heartbreaking thoughts. Sad memories…. We stuck together almost every day… we did everything with each other. Just mostly that, but they are in a good place.

JOSH: Describe them all in one word if you can.

DAVID: Lovable little kids. They were daddy babies.

JOSH: Why move to South Bend? What made you make the move?

DAVID: I came from Iowa. I got daughters and my grandbabies and nieces and stuff that live here cause they were originally born in Michigan. They kept begging me, they said, ‘Dad, you’ve got all these kids you’ve been raising by yourself since they’ve been born. Come down here where we’re at so we can all help you raise the kids and they get to know the rest of their family.”

JOSH: Do you ever think about that night?

DAVID: I constantly wonder what happened, what went wrong, but don’t no one have the answer to it. And I’m not gonna speculate, assume something happened when I don’t know the truth. Don’t nobody yet. We are all waiting for answers.

JOSH: Could you answer one question for everyone wondering? Where were you the night of the fire?

DAVID: Laying in the bed watching TV with the kids. We were watching a movie, doing family things.

JOSH: So, you were at home?

DAVID: Yes, I was at home.

JOSH: Despite what people are assuming online and everything else?

DAVID: Everybody got the right to their own opinions, but they are just lies. We were planning out our day and what we wanted to do next… laughing, talking, and eating.

JOSH: When that fire happened, did you jump out of the window? Did you think, “I would jump out and try to go in a different way?”

DAVID: That was my last thought. Because you couldn’t see nothing, and you couldn’t breathe. So that was the last thought I had was about busing out some windows so we can all try to get some air. Do what I can to get them out of there. I made several attempts and I failed.

David told WNDU 16 News Now that he was advised by his attorneys to not talk about the fire.

Josh and David talked more about the speculation online and the rumors about what happened that night. David wanted to make one thing clear to our team — he says those people online don’t know him but those who do know he’s a good father.

David was joined at the interview with Josh by John Winston Jr., who David said was his best friend and has been by his side through his grief. They actually met days after the fatal fire.

They both talked to Josh about the frustration with the “Smith Family Memorial Fund” put on by members of the South Bend community through 1st Source Bank.

JOSH: Take me back to the day of the press conference — the announcement there would be a fund.

DAVID: I told them I already had a GoFundMe going.

JOSH: So, there was a GoFundMe established by a family member?

DAVID: Before they opened up the 1st Source. They said we should shut that down because they said it may look like we are running a scam if we had both openly.

JOHN: People donated money to that (1st Source Bank) fund thinking they were donating money to this man and his family. And this man hasn’t gotten any of that money. They (family) don’t even know who is on that committee.

JOSH: So, your problem is the fact that there is a fund for the family that the family does not have direct access to? Is that what you’re saying?

DAVID: Yes.

JOHN: We’ve been told that he has to bring receipts and invoices and to get reimbursed for things. We had to turn in receipts and invoices to be reimbursed for family travel up here for the funeral. I basically fronted it and paid for it — hotel rooms and stuff like that. All the stuff that was going on a week and a half before the funeral. We sent a care package to the hospital staff at Riley who treated Angel.

So, when the public started asking about it, which was kind of a double-edged sword at the time because people online were asking “Where’s this money going to?” Cause they didn’t want him to get the money. There were people that were actually donating money to it who were wondering the same thing, like “What’s going on with this money? How come he hasn’t gotten this money?”

JOSH: When you tried to pay for your spot in between your six children in the mausoleum — when you attempted to reach out to the committee to pay for it — what did they tell you?

DAVID: He told me he’d have to run it though the committee. He didn’t think they were allowed to pay for something like that. I’d probably have to do it myself.

WNDU 16 News Now has reached out to the said committee to get their side of the story, but we’re still waiting to hear back. We’ve spoken with Lynn Coleman in the past, who says this was all in an effort to help the family members financially.

As for the investigation into the fire, it’s still being led by the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office. However, officials recently suggested there is “no indication of foul play” at this point.

Josh asked David about the mother of the children — which is a question so many of you have had at home. David said he did not prefer to speak about her because she was not there when the fire happened. He said she is not in the picture and that this is a personal family matter.

Stay with WNDU.com and WNDU 16 News Now as we continue to follow this developing story.

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