The Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) was notified about a domestic violence assault that allegedly involved
Justin Varnado
and his partner,Karizmah Johnson
, weeks before the fatal house fire in Wallingford that claimed the lives of all three family members, including their 9-month-old child,Kylenn Varnado
.The arrest report, authored by the Wallingford Police Department, details the March 25 arrest of 24-year-old Justin Varnado, who was found suffering burns outside the house fire at 25 Geneva Avenue on April 17. Varnado was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.
According to police, 19-year-old Karizmah Johnson and the couple’s child were found to have died prior to the fire. The investigation into the fire is being treated as “criminal in nature,” and the cause of death for all three victims remains pending further studies, as per the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The arrest report from Varnado’s earlier arrest indicates that a woman at the Geneva Avenue home alleged that he had struck her head in front of their child, who was 8 months old at the time. The woman told authorities that the infant had not been struck and that she did not want Justin Varnado arrested.
She stated that she and Varnado had been living together in Wallingford for about five months and had been seeing each other for about a year. The woman also mentioned that Varnado had been acting paranoid after allegedly smoking marijuana a few days prior.
Police documented in the report that they notified the DCF about the assault that allegedly took place in front of the child. It remains unclear whether the agency had an open case involving the family prior to the fire.
“The Department of Children and Families is collaborating with the Wallingford Police Department and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to investigate the circumstances surrounding the untimely and tragic death of the 9-month-old baby in Wallingford,” said DCF Commissioner
Jodi Hill-Lilly
in a statement. “This remains an active investigation and no further information can be released at this time.”The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the State Fire Marshal, and police are treating the incident as a “suspicious death investigation.”
