26 January 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) -New information has been released by the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office regarding the death of a woman and two children in a house fire in Topeka earlier this month.
Firefighters were called at 4:54 a.m. on Jan. 20 to a residence in the 900 block of Southwest Warren Ave. after receiving a report of a structure fire, according to the DA’s Office. Firefighters found a “fully involved house fire” and began efforts to douse the flames. A man, later identified as Kyle J. Tyler, was found on the back deck of the home fully clothed. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.
The bodies of Tyler’s girlfriend, Genny Fitzpatrick, and two children, Kourtney and Peyton Tyler, were found inside the home, according to the DA’s Office. Preliminary results indicate that the victims died as a result of smoke inhalation. While firefighters extinguished a major fire on the upper floors of the home, they also had to put out another fire that had been started in the basement of the home.
Tyler was taken into custody on Jan. 25 after he was released from the hospital. He is currently being held in the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the following charges:
Three counts of murder in the first degree
Aggravated arson
Two counts of aggravated endangering of a child
Tyler’s bond has been set at $1 million and he is scheduled for another court appearance at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 2, 2023.