Tuscaloosa House Fire Kills Woman, Cause Questioned

A deadly Tuscaloosa house fire on Shaw Drive Sunday afternoon claimed the life of a 28 year-old woman. An investigation is ongoing with Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide.

Investigators released information on the incident as shared in a ABC 33/40 report:

Police and firefighters were called to 3950 Shaw Drive on Sunday. They found the body of Lakendel Church inside the house. The victim's mother says she came home from work and found the inside of her home badly burned. She says Church was on the floor in a bedroom.

It is suspected the fire started in the kitchen and burned itself out. Homicide Unit Commander Sergeant Dale Phillip was quoted by WVTM-TV saying:

When I heard her say why did it take her daughter I knew somebody had passed away and it's just sad.

Right now we don't suspect foul play. But there are some things that we have questions about.
 

No doubt, there are questions related to this tragic event. I'm wondering, how did the fire start and what was burning? Where was the woman and why didn't she go outside if the smoke was too much?

This is incredibly sad. My heart breaks for that mother to come home like that to find her daughter passed away. It is my hope the investigation will help family and friends begin the healing process with answers to some of the questions. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Here's a shared picture of the home on Twitter by Meredith Armstrong:

Twitter / MeredithAla13: @TuscCoSheriff metro homicide ...