Kids' deaths in house fire stir up regret

Birth parents wrestle with anger

November 16, 1998

BY JEFFREY GHANNAM
Free Press Staff Writer

At the burned-out home outside Howell, a young couple struggled Sunday with anger and regret after the loss of two children they gave up for adoption.

"I'm hurt that my kids are gone," Mary Morrison said. "You know why I'm angry most of all? They were put in foster care just to die. If they were with us, we would have more kids to take care of, but they would have been with us and they would have been alive."

But others said the children, who suffered a debilitating muscle disease, had found a good home with an adoptive mother, Karen Simpson, who friends said is skilled at caring for disabled children.

Mary and Richard Morrison of Grand Blanc have given up four of their six children to Simpson for adoption. The four suffer from muscle myopathy, a disease that requires medical attention. The Morrisons say they were unable to keep up with their care.

Simpson of Marion Township, who has a large family of adopted children with special needs, took in Desira, 7, and Richard II, 5, and renamed them Nicole and Jordan.

The Morrisons lost visitation rights and didn't know where the children lived -- until now.

Richard and Mary Morrison said they went to Marion Township on Sunday to learn what they could about their children's lives and final moments. They also plan to attend the funeral; plans were incomplete Sunday.

Looking at the wreckage, Richard Morrison said, "I could just imagine in my mind what they went through. The fear and the horror my kids went through."

Said Mary Morrison: "I blame the state and I blame Karen."

Karen Simpson posed for a Free Press photographer with her six surviving children but declined to be interviewed.

A fire broke out just after midnight Friday, ravaging Simpson's white aluminum-clad home on a private street. The Livingston County Sheriff's Department and other authorities on Sunday continued investigating the cause.

Nicole and Jordan Simpson died along with their adopted sibling Christopher, 7. Their two natural siblings at Simpson's house survived the fire: Joshua and Rebecca, both 3.

The Morrisons learned of the fire through Richard Morrison's stepmother, Alice Morrison of Mt. Clemens, who has been allowed visitation since the children were adopted.

"When I first heard it, I was in disbelief, but when I heard it again, I broke out, I couldn't handle it," said Mary Morrison, standing near the wreckage of the home.

Alice Morrison informed Richard, 34, and Mary, 26, of the deaths on Saturday.

"How could I blame Karen?" Alice Morrison said. "Who else would take the children?

"It's a sad story, but Richard and Mary would not even know about this if Karen did not agree to let them know this happened," Alice Morrison said.

She said Simpson and her children went into the home to try to save those left inside.

Simpson was staying Sunday in a Howell hotel with her surviving children, courtesy of the American Red Cross of Livingston County.

"She's in shock; she has lost three children," Alice Morrison said.

The fire apparently started in a breezeway between the house and the garage, said Simpson's daughter, Kim Simpson, 26, of Fowlerville.

When Howell firefighters arrived, they found the home engulfed and all but the three children safely out of the house. Firefighters were driven back by heavy smoke and intense heat.

The children's bodies were found after the fire was out.

Mary Morrison said that in 1994 the state placed two of her children in foster care, followed by two more children shortly after their birth.

Marylou Bax, president of the Michigan Foster and Adoptive Parents Association, said that it's not unusual for a foster home to have so many children because of the number of children in need.

Simpson ran a licensed foster home but turned in the license a few weeks ago, said Family Independence Agency spokeswoman Karen Smith. She added that a license may be turned in once children are adopted, among other reasons.

Staff photographer Pauline Lubens contributed to this report. Staff writer Jack Kresnak also contributed to this report. Jeffrey Ghannam can be reached at 1-313-223-4286.