GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — The case against a man accused of involuntary manslaughter in connection to a Grand Rapids house fire that killed a mother and three children could go to trial.
Robert Keith Scales, 38, faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter tied to the Feb. 5 fire at a home on Dawes Avenue SE. Scales' wife, Wanedia Scales, 34, his stepson, Xavier Woldeab, 15, and his two biological children Robert Scales, Jr., 13 and Elijah Scales, 9, all died.
The prosecution alleges that Scales negligently burned material in close proximity to the home, which also lacked smoke detectors, without properly extinguishing or monitoring it. Grand Rapids District Court Judge Jennifer Faber determined during a Wednesday hearing that there was enough evidence to send the case to circuit court.
Grand Rapids Fire Lt. Roy Vincent LaGrone, who investigated the fire, was one of four witnesses to provide testimony during the July 15 hearing. LaGrone said through his investigation he determined that the fire started in the pit placed less than 6-feet from the home. Grand Rapids code calls for recreational fire pits to be 20 feet from a residence.
He testified that Scales said he had used the fire pit on Feb. 4, but let it fizzle out before going to work a third shift job that evening.
LaGrone also said he asked Scales about the lack of smoke detectors during his investigation.
"He said he had taken them down, so he could paint," LaGrone said.
D'Andra West, a friend who was with Wanedia Scales at the home not long before the fire, and Edward Allen Jr., Scales' partner in a junk hauling business, also testified. Both witnesses testified that they were only there because they had been subpoenaed.
Allen testified that the fire had been put out prior to him leaving the home around 7:45 p.m. He said he and Scales had burned material from a job, and then put water and a lid over the pit. But during the investigation, Allen told a Grand Rapids Police detective that Scales had just been starting the fire as he left the house. There were several other discrepancies between his testimony and his initial statements to police. When asked about them, Allen said he had not been truthful in his earlier statements to law enforcement.
LaGrone testified that a mattress was found in between the home and the fire pit. Allen said it had not been there when he left the home.
Months prior to the fatal fire, Wanedia Scales tried to file a petition for a personal protection order against Robert Scales, the 34-year-old mother said she feared for her safety.
She wrote that Robert Scales "vandalized property and has threaten (sic) to burn the house down with me in it." She also wrote that he threatened her in front of the children. The petition was denied.
Robert Scales is currently out on bond.
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