Twin Boys, 4, Die After Being Trapped Inside Burning Nashville Home: ‘The Lights of Our World’

A devastating house fire in Nashville has claimed the lives of 4-year-old twin brothers, described by loved ones as “miracle babies” and “the lights of our world.”

The blaze broke out in the early hours of Monday, July 28, at a home on Arbor Pointe Way, according to local reports from WSMV-TV and WTVF. Fire crews arrived shortly after 4:30 a.m. to find a mother and one of her three children outside the residence. The mother told firefighters that her two other children—both 4-year-old boys—were still inside, trapped on the second floor.

Firefighters were able to reach the boys, later identified as Lathan and Langston McDaniel, and pulled them from the home. Despite efforts to save them, both children were pronounced dead at the scene.

“We’re very saddened that today in this home we lost those two children,” said Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney, per WTVF.

The twins had overcome immense odds early in life, surviving premature births and multiple health challenges, according to a GoFundMe page set up by family friend Lacey Corbitt. “Lathan and Langston were micro-preemie survivors,” she wrote. “They were absolutely the lights of our world.”

Corbitt, who is helping organize support for the family, described the grief as overwhelming. “Words cannot express the grief and despair this whole family (and the village it has taken to love and support them well) are currently experiencing,” she wrote. “We will never be able to get back their beautiful miracle twins, but maybe we can try to help replace all that has been lost.”

The online fundraiser had raised over $12,000 as of Wednesday, July 30.

Corbitt also shared that the boys’ mother, Jessica McDaniel, is struggling to cope. “They are physically okay,” she said of the family, “but mentally, she’s not okay. She’s broken.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.