‘A great little family’: Loved ones mourn children, parents killed in Independence fire
Each weekday morning, Jennifer Zielinksi would go to the Indy Ridge apartments and pick up her daughter and two granddaughters and drive them to work and daycare.
The family only had one working vehicle, so Zielinski would help with transportation. After dropping her daughter Katelyn McShann and oldest granddaughter at Katelyn’s work, Zielinksi would drive the 3-year-old to daycare.
On Wednesday morning, Zielinski headed to the Indy Ridge apartment like always, but this time she had been alerted about a fire inside the complex and worried about the safety of her family.
It was there, after firefighters had fought the flames for several hours, that Zielinksi would eventually be told that her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters had been killed in the blaze.
“They were very loving and just a great little family who were taken too soon,” said Janelle Hawthorne, Katelyn’s aunt and Zielinski’s sister, her voice breaking. “They were just starting out.”
Katelyn and DeVante McShann and two daughters, Bella Edwards, 8, and Aaliyah McShann, 3, were found in the family’s third floor apartment three hours into fighting the flames Wednesday morning. Firefighters found them together in their bathroom, Hawthorne told The Star.
Dedicated to their family, Katelyn and DeVante would work multiple jobs, the aunt said, to support their children. They met through DeVante’s nephew and married in July 2023.
They were all hanging out together, and the two connected and just fell for each other, said Lolita McShann, DeVante’s older sister. While the couple had their ups and downs, they made it work, she said.
“You could tell, looking at when they were together, that there was love,” McShann said. “He loved her; she loved him. There was no question about it.”
Bella, a second-grader in the Blue Springs School District, loved music, going to school and playing her guitar that she got a couple of Christmases ago. Aaliyah loved to sing and dance, her great aunt said, and watch CoComelon videos.
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Lolita McShann said Bella and Aaliyah each had their own personalities, but they also had some traits from her brother.
“They were definitely little him – very outspoken,” McShann said.
Her brother has a son, DeVante McShann Jr., who meant the world to him, Lolita McShann said. His son, who will be 7 years old next month, was with his mother at the time of the fire.
Relatives set up a GoFundMe account to pay for the family’s funeral expenses.
“Their passing has left an indescribable void in our hearts,” the GoFundMe post stated. “The funds raised will go toward ensuring Katelyn, DeVante, Bella, and Aaliyah receive the respectful and loving remembrance they deserve”
Donations will also “assist their immediate family members with their expenses as they navigate their loss.”
Flames started in another apartment
The fire, which erupted before 6 a.m., originated in an apartment across the hall from the McShanns.
Investigators determined the inferno started as a cooking fire, said Mike O’Connell, a spokesperson for the Fire Safety division of the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
Independence Fire Chief Jimmy Walker said Wednesday night that the apartment resident had left the kitchen while cooking. Upon hearing the smoke alarm go off, the resident ran back to the kitchen, finding a grease fire.
The resident attempted to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, then fled the apartment, leaving the front door open, Walker said.
Hawthorne said a police officer told her family Wednesday that the open door “helped the fire to spread.”
“And then it is believed that when our family got up and tried to get out,” she said, “they were trapped and couldn’t get out.”
The fire grew exponentially and quickly spread across two floors into the building’s attic and roof, engulfing the building in flames, fire officials said.
The fire appears to be a horrific accident, Walker said.
The apartment building, in the 19100 block of East 37th Terrace, was fully compliant with safety codes and was built to code when it was constructed, Walker said. There was a narrow space for plumbing that ran in the middle of the building. The fire had already extended up to the attic area and then dropped down.
The exterior wooden stairwell acted as a chimney, and the fire spread. Walker said that while there were firewalls in the building, there were no firewalls in the attic, allowing the fire to go where it wanted.
‘It’s just devastating’
Knowing that the four were found together does give comfort to those close to them, Katelyn’s aunt said.
“They loved to be with family and watch Chiefs games,” Hawthorne said. “We would have weekly dinners with everyone and Super Bowl parties.
“It’s just devastating.”
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Lolita McShann described her brother as a family man, a helper and a protector.
“He was all about his family, taking care of his family,” she said. “He loved laughter. He loved a good joke.”
His death hits especially hard, she said, because there is a 17 and a half year age gap between Lolita and DeVante. She watched him grow into the man he became.
“He was so protective, and he loved and loved hard and would give his heart,” McShann said, breaking into tears. “There’s no question, I’m sure, that he protected them until the very end.”
Katelyn celebrated her 28th birthday on Jan. 3, and the extended family had gathered to celebrate Christmas, where the sisters got Legos and clothes and crafting things for Bella.
The two “didn’t really ask for a lot of things,” Hawthorne said. “Whatever they got they were grateful for.”
Relatives are left to organize funeral services and learn whatever more they can about the fire. Hawthorne said she still has questions.
“Of course, in a situation like that, you don’t know how it played out for them and what their last minutes were like,” she said, crying. “... I’ll probably never get answers, but my heart hurts.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 11:56 AM.
