Two were killed in a Winona house fire Tuesday morning.
Winona Fire Chief Brad Mooneyham said a man and a woman perished in a fire that destroyed a home located at 601 Dennis Street in Winona.
According to Montgomery County Coroner Allan Pratt, Randy Phillips, 52, and Laquita Frederick, 50, were officially identified Wednesday by the Mississippi State Crime Lab in Pearl, where an autopsy was also performed. Cause of death has not been released. Both Phillips and Frederick resided at the home, Pratt said.
Mooneyham said Winona firefighters were dispatched to Dennis Street at 6:47 a.m. to the fire, and later dispatchers radioed to responding units that two people were likely in the home.
Mooneyham said upon arrival, firefighters found the house engulfed in smoke. Both Phillips and Frederick were found deceased.
“Both were declared dead at the scene [by Coroner Allan Pratt],” Mooneyham said.
It took firefighters three hours to extinguish the fire. The home was ruled a total loss.
“The [Mississippi State] Fire Marshall came [Tuesday] and ruled the fire as a stove fire,” Mooneyham said. “The fire was contained mainly to the kitchen and living room.”
