A grandfather killed his son and two grandchildren by setting their home on fire Friday as they slept in Steelton above a convenience store, officials said Tuesday.
Jafar Afshar, 67, was identified as the grandfather and his death was ruled a suicide, according to Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick, who released new details in a press conference Tuesday morning.
Hetrick said Jafar killed his son Saeed Afshar, 36, and his two grandchildren, an 8-year-old boy, and a 5-year-old girl, by pouring accelerant heavily inside the home and lighting it. Their deaths were ruled homicide.
The causes of death were thermal burns and smoke inhalation for Saeed and his children. Jafar also died from smoke inhalation and thermal burns, Hetrick said. No motive for the killings was announced at the news conference at the coroner’s office.
All four died in an apartment above the Raja’s Quick Pick Mart in the 400 block of South Front Street. Hetrick did not name the children but an online fundraiser for the children’s mother identified them as Darius and Zipporah Afshar. A source close to the investigation confirmed those names were correct.
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The blaze was first noticed in the two-story brick building by neighbors and passersby around 6 a.m. Friday. One of them called 911 as the others banged on windows and rang the doorbell trying to notify the residents about the fire. But they were not able to get near the second-floor apartment because the only external entrance was secured by a steel door and a deadbolt.
A second-floor window then exploded raining down debris on one woman who was banging on the door.
When police officers arrived two minutes later, they too were initially blocked from performing any rescues, lacking any fire equipment. They broke into the convenience store to get a dolly cart and used it to pry open the steel door.
They ran up a set of stairs leading to a second door and were blown back down the stairs by fire and smoke when they opened it. When firefighters arrived five minutes later, they were able to enter the home.
Grieving neighbors and community members staged a memorial Sunday to remember the victims of the fire. The mother of the children relayed that she did not want them to gather at the deadly scene. So the mourners moved the event to a nearby park.
It’s unclear whether Saeed had full physical custody of the children, but regular customers of the store said they often saw and chatted with the men and children who lived above the store.
Saeed served as the key prosecution witness in a 2018 murder trial in Dauphin County. According to his testimony, he agreed to participate in the robbery of Kodi Flanagan, 22 on April 25, 2017 at Third and Muench streets in Harrisburg but had no idea anyone would die. He testified his two young children were with him as they were planning the heist.
Saeed served as one of two eyewitnesses at the trial. The jury found Sidney Michaels, 24, of Middletown, guilty of second-degree murder and he is serving a life prison sentence.
Saeed and his father lived above Raja’s convenience store for about 18 months, according to the cousin of the building owner.
It’s unclear where they lived before but Jafar owned a house on South 17th Street in Harrisburg from 2007 to 2011. Jafar previously appeared to live and own property in New York and Massachusetts. He had no known prior criminal charges. He was cited in 2009 for failing to schedule a re-inspection of a rental property in Queens County, New York.
The triple homicide in Steelton Friday represented the first triple killing in Dauphin County in 20 years.
On Christmas Eve in 2002, Ernest Wholaver Jr., shot his wife and two daughters in the head as they slept. He’d been accused of sexually assaulting his daughters, was convicted of three first-degree murder charges in 2004.
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