Friends Mourn Young Sisters Killed In Fire

BOSTON -- Two children from a South Boston family were trapped by smoke and flames and killed in a fast-moving fire early Sunday morning, as the girls' brother screamed at them to jump to the street below.

“She was like, ‘Help, help,’ and he told her, ‘Throw yourself,’ and she said, ‘I can’t,’” a neighbor said.

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NewsCenter 5’s Lynn Jolicoeur reported firefighters got to the home at 154 W. 6th St. in South Boston in three minutes, but it was already engulfed in flames. Acia Johnson, 14, and her sister Sophia Johnson, 2, died on the top floor of their triple-decker.

Neighbors said flames were flickering in their windows around 3 a.m., and they went outside to find the mother, Anna Reisopoulas, collapsing in front of her row house.

“She was just screaming, ‘Somebody please go in and get my babies.’ At one point, she broke away and she wanted to go in by herself and do it,” said family friend Danny Zyskowski.

Neighbors and police officers had to hold her back.

The two girls were later found by firefighters in a closet on the top floor.

Sources told NewsCenter 5 the older sister was crouched around her younger sister to protect her from the flames.

“’The last day until the last breath, I’m still protecting you like I used to,’” said family friend Aida Ramos, imaging the situation inside the home. “Acia was so overprotective of her sister.”

“She was such a caring person. She did everything she can to do the right thing in school and outside of school,” said Acia’s friend Jasmine Salas. “It’s just so devastating to me. What am I going to do now? We used to play around all the time in the summer.”

The girls' brother Raymond Johnson, 14, and mother Anna Reisopoulas were able to escape, and were taken to Boston Medical Center. The brother was released Sunday afternoon. The mother was in critical condition.

Police said they were still investigating.

NewsCenter 5’s Kelley Tuthill reported Boston Mayor Tom Menino said there are a number of issues raising questions.

“We don’t have any arrests. It’s still an investigation,” Menino said. “There are some issues we have with this fire, but we haven’t validated those suspicions as of yet,” Menino said.

The Boston Globe reported investigators were suspicious of possible arson, and Reisopoulas had been involved in an argument recently.