Authorities in Escambia County, Florida, have arrested a man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering two children before setting their mobile home on fire in a horrifying act that has left the community reeling.
Police identified the suspect as John Henry Walston Jr., 27, who allegedly killed 9-year-old Vayden Orum and 7-year-old Rayden Smith inside his trailer at the Grand Oak Mobile Home Park before deliberately igniting the blaze early Friday morning.
Witnesses say the children’s mother desperately tried to save them from the burning home.
“She went into the trailer trying to get them. That’s a mother’s love,” neighbor John Wenzel told CBS affiliate WEAR. “She went inside the house trying to get her kids, but [it was] too hot.”
According to Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons, the fire did not cause the children’s deaths. “These children were not killed because of the fire,” Simmons said in a video statement. “[Walston] assaulted one, then killed them both before saving himself.”
After allegedly setting the trailer ablaze, Walston reportedly fled the scene. Both he and the children’s mother were taken to a local hospital, where she was treated for burn injuries. Walston was treated for his own wounds before being taken into custody.
The victims’ father, Tyler Smith, who shared that he had known Walston for years, told reporters that his children were staying at the suspect’s home that night. “How can you expect any human being to do this?” he said. “John, I hope they give you hell in prison, because you better be glad they found you before I did.”
Walston faces multiple charges, including two counts of premeditated murder, one count of sexual assault on a victim under 12, and one count of arson. He is being held without bond ahead of his first court appearance on November 26.
The victims’ grandmother, Lisa Pinegar, described the tragedy as “a bad dream.” Speaking to WEAR, she recalled how one of the children’s siblings broke the heartbreaking news to her. “He said, ‘Mommy has been life flighted to the hospital. My brother and sister is no longer here, they’re dead,’” she recounted. “He just kept telling me over and over and I didn’t want to believe it.”
Sheriff Simmons urged the community to hold their loved ones close as investigators continue their work. “I don’t know what else I can say about this terrible event except for please hug your children,” he said.
