Hailed as a hero, 11-year-old Ray Martin DeFord was eager to tell how he knocked on doors warning people of a fire that ended up killing eight people - five of them children - in a suburban apartment complex.
On Tuesday, the shaggy-haired boy with the gold earring had something else to say: He confessed to setting the blaze, his mother, Carolyn DeFord, told The Oregonian in Wednesday's editions.Ray DeFord, who had been arrested before the confession, will be charged with eight counts of felony murder, authorities said. He was being held in a juvenile detention center in Portland and was to be arraigned today.
By law, he cannot be prosecuted as an adult, Sheriff's Cmdr. Chuck Leutwyler said.
The boy was calm and showed no remorse, Leutwyler said. "I saw no tears or anything."
Investigators began focusing on the boy Monday night and believe he acted alone. Leutwyler refused to comment on the motive, how the fire was started or what led investigators to the boy.
"He might be a small child, but he had the head to do such a dreadful act, I want him to pay. He killed my family," said Mario Guzman, who lost six relatives in the fire.
Ray had told reporters Friday that he was awakened by squeals from a rat he had been keeping to feed to his pet snake. He said he then woke up the rest of his family and alerted neighbors. Witnesses said he banged on doors, yelling "Fire! Fire!"
"My dad says I'm the hero for the day," Ray said after the fire.
"That's the truth," his dad, Tom DeFord, replied.
The fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. in the Oakwood Park apartments in this suburb west of Portland. Flames blocked a stairwell, trapping some of the victims in a third-floor apartment, fire officials said.