CLEVELAND -
It was Friday the 13th. Kisha Hodges and her five children were already dealing with a loss having learned that their cousin Tishana Culver was one of the women found inside Anthony Sowell's home. That night a distraught Kisha fell asleep with food cooking on the stove.
"I was cooking and I was upset about a situation and I cried myself to sleep and um next thing I know I hear my daughter screaming my name," Kisha said.
The kitchen was on fire, and smoke was filling the house on Shale Avenue. The screams to get out of the house might not have happened if not for Kisha's 6-year-old son Armand.
"I smelled smoke. I turned on the light so my sister can get up and then she went downstairs to get Dominique," Armand said. He says he knew he could wake his sister by turning the lights on.
The two woke up the rest of the family and headed out the front door.
Mayor Frank Jackson issued a proclamation commending Armand for using his fire safety smarts to get his family out of the house safely.
Kisha says her son is a hero.
"I'm so proud of him, I'm so happy because we would all be dead there's no question about it," Kisha said.
"I love my mommy and my sisters and my big brother," Armand said.
The family is staying in a hotel thanks to donations Kisha says from people at the Emile B DeDawze Contemporary Academy, but Kisha says they have no more money and she now has to figure out where her family will go.
Kisha says the house has extensive smoke and water damage, and she hopes that the family will be able to return when it is repaired.
"I was cooking and I was upset about a situation and I cried myself to sleep and um next thing I know I hear my daughter screaming my name," Kisha said.
The kitchen was on fire, and smoke was filling the house on Shale Avenue. The screams to get out of the house might not have happened if not for Kisha's 6-year-old son Armand.
"I smelled smoke. I turned on the light so my sister can get up and then she went downstairs to get Dominique," Armand said. He says he knew he could wake his sister by turning the lights on.
The two woke up the rest of the family and headed out the front door.
Mayor Frank Jackson issued a proclamation commending Armand for using his fire safety smarts to get his family out of the house safely.
Kisha says her son is a hero.
"I'm so proud of him, I'm so happy because we would all be dead there's no question about it," Kisha said.
"I love my mommy and my sisters and my big brother," Armand said.
The family is staying in a hotel thanks to donations Kisha says from people at the Emile B DeDawze Contemporary Academy, but Kisha says they have no more money and she now has to figure out where her family will go.
Kisha says the house has extensive smoke and water damage, and she hopes that the family will be able to return when it is repaired.
