ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
A fire that police said was set deliberately gutted a house early Thursday, killing a woman and her 7-year-old daughter.
Police spokesman Karl Holzbach said the deaths were being investigated as a double homicide. ``It was definitely arson,'' Holzbach said.
The fire at the brick rancher in south Richmond was reported about 3:30 a.m.
Police did not immediately identify the victims or say whether they were related.
But the woman's father, Willie Powers, said they were his daughter, Cynthia Johnson, and granddaughter, Heather Johnson.
``I don't know how anybody would hold something against'' Johnson, said Carroll Lewis, who lives across the street. ``She was a real sweet, nice lady.''
The house, with a swing set and toy donkey in the back yard, is in a quiet middle-class subdivision of mostly brick homes.
Lewis said he and his wife, Thelma, often bought candy that Heather was selling for her church.
``She was so sweet, well-mannered, behaved,'' Thelma Lewis said of the girl.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB