http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...253490-3790-11e5-9d0f-7865a67390ee_story.html
From the beginning, firefighters and police were suspicious about a fire last month that erupted at 3:30 a.m. inside a Toyota Corolla on the side of a Montgomery County highway.
The driver, a 33-year-old woman, was found lying face down outside the car, screaming in pain. The car doors were locked. Inside, a small child lay motionless on a rear floorboard. Rescuers tried to get to him but couldn’t.
On Friday, authorities revealed the outcome of their six-week investigation: First-degree murder and first-degree arson charges against 33-year-old, Narges Shafeirad.
Police say that before setting the fire, she poisoned her 5-year-old son, Daniel Dana, with a large dose of Diphenhydramine, an antihistamine used in allergy and cough medicine. Investigators believe she set the fire as part of a cover story to try to throw them off.
Capt. Darren Francke, commander of the Montgomery County police department’s major crimes unit, said an exact motive is unclear, but may be linked to a bitter divorce and custody battle over the boy between Shafeirad and her husband. She remains hospitalized with burn injuries.
Francke said investigators have a good idea of what brand of medicine Shafeirad gave her son, but he declined to say at this point in the case. He described the quantity as an entire bottle. “It was an excessive amount. It was an extraordinary amount. . .She forced him to drink it,” he said.
Inside the car, Shafeirad doused the interior with gasoline and started the fire, police said. Daniel was already dead. “Thankfully he did not have to suffer from the fire,” Francke said.
Fire investigators determined the fire started in the front seat area, officials said. Francke said he did not think that Shafeirad intended to take her own life. “I don’t believe she wanted to kill herself,” he said.
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