Updated 08/03/2010 09:45 PM
Funeral Services For S.I. Mother, Four Children Held In Brooklyn
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Funeral services were held Tuesday for the Jones family of Staten Island, who died in last month's Port Richmond house fire that was ruled a murder-suicide.
Mourners gathered at the Brooklyn Funeral Home in Brownsville, Brooklyn to say prayers for the mother and four children who died in Port Richmond on July 22.
Investigators say Leisa Jones, 30, set a fire in her apartment in 302 Nicholas Avenue after slitting the throats of her 14-year-old son C.J., 10-year-old daughter Brittany and seven-year-old daughter Melonie. The mother and her two-year-old son, Jermaine, then died of smoke inhalation.
The city medical examiner ruled the four children's deaths as homicides and Leisa Jones's death as a suicide.
Authorities initially suspected that C.J. Jones was the one who killed his siblings and mother and set the fire, as a razor blade was found under his corpse.
Investigators later retracted that theory, after they found in the apartment a charred note in Leisa Jones's handwriting that partially read "am sorry," which they deducted was a suicide note.
Those who attended the funeral said their thoughts were with the children.
"I just wanted to say a private prayer and meet with some of the family," said advocate Jack Ryan. "This is just unspeakably sad, and it just points out to me to somehow be aware of people's pain and somehow intervene whenever you can as early as possible. It's just so unspeakably sad."
Family members say Leisa Jones came to New York to make a fresh start for her children as a hair dresser. They say the family earned the nickname "the posse" because they were always together.
Family members also say Leisa showed no signs of struggling and wish she would have asked for help for her children's sake.
"They were all innocent, wonderful kids. We don't know what happened. We don't know what happened," said Jones' cousin, Donald Daley.
The funeral services were donated by the owner, who is a Staten Island resident who was affected by the news of the tragedy.
The five bodies will be flown to Washington, D.C., where they will be buried Wednesday.