Boy, 7, Burned in House Fire Dies

A Val Verde boy critically burned in a New Year’s Eve house fire died Sunday morning of heart failure, the day after his 17-year-old half-brother succumbed to similar injuries.

Patrick Crawford, 7, who suffered third-degree burns over 65% of his body, was pronounced dead at 6:25 a.m. after doctors at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital worked for more than an hour to revive him, said spokesman Larry Weinberg.

The blaze, which broke out about 8:15 a.m. in the 29000 block of Val Verde Road, also claimed the life of Patrick’s 17-year-old half-brother, Sean Williams, who died Saturday after an operation to ease blood flow within his badly burned body.

Williams’ former girlfriend, Patricia Lynn Martin, 20, who lived at the Val Verde home, was listed in critical condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center with burns over 18% of her body.

Also hurt in the blaze was the victims’ aunt, Dawn Carter, 45, who broke her ankle jumping from the second story of the four-bedroom home to escape the flames. The cause of the fire is under investigation.