Man accused of setting house fire that killed a Topeka mom, two kids pleads no contest to murder
TOPEKA (KSNT) - A Holton man accused of starting a deadly house fire last year that killed a Topeka mom and her two children pleaded no contest Friday.
27 News is following up on the case of 33-year-old Kyle J. Tyler who was accused of killing Genny Fitzpatrick, 30 and her two children, one-year-old Kourtney Tyler and nine-year-old Peyton Tyler, in a house fire in January 2023. Tyler pleaded no contest to a charge of murder in the first degree and two charges of aggravated arson on Aug. 23. Other charges of murder in the first degree and aggravated endangering of a child were dismissed.
The Topeka Fire Department (TFD) was called about a fire just before 5 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2023 to a home in the 900 block of Southwest Warren Avenue. Firefighters arriving at the scene found a house engulfed in flames and began trying to put out the fire amid dangerous conditions. A man, later identified as Tyler, was found on the back deck of the home fully clothed and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters searching the home found Fitzpatrick and her two children who all were killed as a result of smoke inhalation, according to court documents. Investigators found two areas in the home where fires were started: one in the middle of the living room and another in the basement.
Tyler was later arrested after being released from the hospital on Jan. 20, 2023 in connection to the deaths of Fitzpatrick and her children. He was initially charged with three counts of murder in the first degree, aggravated arson and two counts of aggravated endangering of a child.
27 News spoke with family of Fitzpatrick in the days after the fire. Fitzpatrick worked at a local McDonalds while Peyton was a fourth grade student at Lowman Hill Elementary school in Topeka.
Tyler is due to be sentenced in October this year. 27 News will keep you updated on this case as it moves forward.
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