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Thirty Years Ago, Virginia Williams's 11 Children Died In A House Fire

FlowerWhiskers

FlowerWhiskers

Active Member
http://www.stltoday.com/news/archiv...cle_da49695d-cb90-51de-ba90-52898c6ad437.html

Sad, sad shit, and long article, but interesting from a sociological perspective.
I've lived in STL my whole life and have never heard of this case (well, I was a toddler at the time). She shat out 6 more kids after losing the 11 in the fire, and proceeded to neglect THEM as well. Granted, she's post-menopausal by now, but if there was ever a candidate for the human spay...


EAST ST. LOUIS • Virginia Williams, then in her late 20s, was out gambling on January 11, 1981, when 11 of her children died in a house fire. She's had six more children since, and some of them say she's abused them. She was imprisoned for abuse. Periodically, the state has intervened in the children's behalf, but the family remains racked by problems. Some blame Williams, who has a mental disorder and gambling addiction. Some blame the state. Some blame both.

Virginia Williams went gambling and left 11 of her children alone in their home for 12 hours. The house caught fire, and all 11 children -- ranging from 10 months to 11 years old -- were killed in one of the deadliest fires ever in the St. Louis area. That was in 1981. Still, the tragedy and the extreme neglect that led to it are hard for many to forget. And many of those who were involved in the case believe that the Illinois child welfare system shared some of the blame.
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FlowerWhiskers said:
She shat out 6 more kids after losing the 11 in the fire, and proceeded to neglect THEM as well.
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I saw this article on reddit earlier today,at the link the photo of the original '81 article says she had a 12th kid, name/age not given, who was with relatives the night of the fire.

They had the cutest names Jeanette, Angel, twins Carl & Caressa, Tracey, Anthony, Will, twins Kitty & Kattie, James and baby Lottie.

The final line what a punch in the guts
"I don't understand the life we are going through, especially when I see the way other people live."
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From the son Kevin who was kicked out of home at 13 by her
 
Three days later, the children, all in tiny white caskets and arranged in order from oldest to youngest, were buried in Sunset Gardens of Memory in Millstadt after a graveside service.
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Arrrrrrggggghhhhh!

...doctor who said she "has a personality disorder and has problems dealing with life." A psychologist who tested her, her attorney told the court, said Williams "is functioning on a low to average range of intellectual level, she has a low IQ and she has poor planning skills."
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Really!?

Williams, the advocate said, knew "how to work the system" in order to have her children returned.
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Seems she was smart enough.

She seemed to abuse the boys more than the girls. Wonder what it was about the boys? She also seems to have had a child a year, such an industrious abuser, cranking them out every nine months.
 
Omg. That is a horribly sad article. The pic of the 11 caskets lined up just made the tears roll. :(:bigtears:
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lithiumgirl said:
Where are all of the children's fathers ... Jail???
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Most of the kids were fathered by the same dad.. wait for it...

She would have six more children, in order: Kevin, Jeremy, Jessie, Matthew, Audrey and Chandra. According to court documents and Williams, all were fathered by Will Arthur Jones, who is married and has other children with his wife.

Jones, who gets a disability check because of a five-valve heart bypass, has continued to have a relationship with Williams and spends a great deal of time gambling with her and at her home. He has never been charged with abuse or neglect of any of his children.
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I did a little figuring. The article is from 2001 when she had 6 more children ranging in age from 10 to 19, so the older one was born around 1982, the others died in 1981, she started having kids when she was 15 about 1970, so she had 18 kids in 21 years.

She was trying to out kid Michelle Duggar!
 
You don't have to be smart to "work" the system and get your kids back. The demands the state places on parents in situations like that are absurdly minor and insignificant.
 
"For a while, Williams disappeared from the DCFS radar. She left the state with her children and lived briefly in Mississippi, Virginia and Iowa. While in Iowa, her eldest daughter, Elizabeth Williams, then 11, ran away, and in 1979 was placed in a foster home before being sent to live with relatives in Mississippi. The move probably saved her life."

I hope she made the most of it.
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Williams acknowledged that Jones had tried to get her to leave the gambling table earlier that night and return home, but she refused, telling him that she "had a good hand."

Heading home without her, Jones drove by her house and found it burning. Inexplicably, Jones returned to St. Louis to collect Williams instead of first calling the fire department."

Hmmmph. Maybe he didn't mind the decreased responsibility.
 
Heading home without her, Jones drove by her house and found it burning. Inexplicably, Jones returned to St. Louis to collect Williams instead of first calling the fire department."
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If you drove by a house that was on fire and your 6 children were inside, wouldn't you try to rescue them?
I sure would.



Maybe he started the fire.
 
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