The smoke alarm in a Murray house that burned Monday, claiming the life of a young girl, had no batteries.
When the alarm batteries ran down, they were removed and never replaced, Murray police Lt. Dee Rowland said.The morning blaze at 675 E. 4800 South likely started in a love seat directly east of where firefighters later found the body of 8-year-old Elizabeth Khoury, who died before rescuers could reach her. The girl's father, mother and brother managed to escape the burning home.
The fire may have started from a smoldering cigarette or something similar, Rowland said. "The fire investigator said it was a classic case - he has seen hundreds like it."
Unique, however, was the girl who lost her life trying to escape the flames.
Elizabeth attended classes for intellectually handicapped students at Liberty Elementary, 140 W. 6100 South. She was enrolled in a handful of mainstream third-grade classes there also, Principal Brent Bateman said.
"She was always fascinated with watches," Bateman said. "She'd come up and grab your hand and tap your watch. It was special.
"I just saw Liz as one who enjoyed life," he said. "She's just a sweet young lady who will be missed by all."
The flag at Liberty flew at half staff Tuesday in honor of the friend many teachers and classmates had come to love.
"When she first began public education, she would just sit and not respond to people," said Cathy Longstroth, one of Elizabeth's teachers. "Through the years she learned to interact with people. She developed a lot of sparkle in her personality."
Longstroth and fellow teachers Caroline Bruse and Meg Kis-sel-burg remember Elizabeth as a sweet, charming child fascinated with watches, popsicles and music.
"She was just a little sweetheart," Kisselburg said.
Longstroth recalled a day when the class honored their principal and his interest in trains.
"She came into his office and sang `I've Been Working on the Railroad' solo," Longstroth said. Another time, Elizabeth met a new student who was deaf, blind and confined to a wheelchair. She handed the boy a bouquet of the purple flowers she commonly brought to school, her teacher said.
Possibly a prodigy, Elizabeth based much of her learning on music.
"She could sing . . . she had a repertoire of songs you wouldn't believe," one teacher said.
The girl tickled her teachers with her favorite phrases. Among them, ` 'preciate you' - which she would regularly substitute as a thank you.
Another, which she used in times of crisis: "She would have seizures and she would just pat herself on the chest and say, `Lizzie OK,' " Longstroth recalled. When the seizure passed, "she'd pat herself again and say, `Lizze OK now.' "
The image is one her friends use now as comfort, Longstroth said.
"We kind of think of her now patting herself and saying, `Lizzie OK now.' "