A 14-year-old Kansas boy was charged on Friday with murdering his mother and younger sister by deliberately setting fire to the family home in Hutchinson, authorities said.
Sam Vonachen faces two counts of first-degree murder and a charge of aggravated arson in the deaths of his mother and sister, said Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder. He is also charged with attempted first-degree murder of his father, Steven Vonachen, who escaped the blaze.
The mother, Karla Vonachen, 47, and sister, Audrey, 11, died at area hospitals after firefighters took them from a second floor bedroom of their home early Thursday morning, officials said.
Steven Vonachen initially thought an extension cord may have caught fire, but later an official investigation determined that an accelerant was involved, Schroeder said.
Authorities said they had not yet determined the motive for the crime.
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