Flames were everywhere.
Smoke billows from the windows of the three-bedroom semi-detached house as flames lick up the building. Three cars were on fire, and the carport, where officials believe the fire started, was completely gutted.
Even the large pine tree that shaded the home on Knight Drive where Stacey Hales and Adam Keenan had lived with their three daughters for years was burning — emitting an orange glow that by 4:45 a.m. could be seen for miles in Murrieta.
And while Hales and Keenan were able to escape the home with one of their daughters, 11-year-old Ashley, the girl’s twin, Abby, and her older sister, 12-year-old Emma, they didn’t make it, nor did the house dogs. The brothers, who succumbed to smoke inhalation, were found seven meters apart in the living room.
“There was a lot of heat coming out of the building,” Murrieta Fire Chief Bernard Molloy told The Times this month. “One of our fire captains tried to get in through the window and got a melted hat as a result.”
Authorities say the fire started in the garage after Hales, 46, failed to turn off the propane tank in the stove he was using to make tortilla chips and left them on overnight. He had been using the stove in the house until it started a fire months ago, and Keenan told him he could “kill someone one day” if he wasn’t careful, according to a statement included in an affidavit filed by police after the murder.
Nearly three months after the Dec. 20 fire killed their daughters, Hales and Keenan are now facing serious charges in their deaths.
Hales was charged March 2 with two counts of arson causing serious bodily injury, three counts of intentional child abuse, animal cruelty, arson and aggravated assault for allegedly being under the influence of alcohol, according to Riverside County Superior Court records.
Keenan was charged with three counts of intentional child abuse and a misdemeanor for allegedly being under the influence of drugs, court records said.
Hales has not entered a plea and is out on $160,000 bail. He did not pick up the phone for comment. Keenan, who remains in custody in lieu of $160,000 bail, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“This is a very serious and complex case,” Deputy Public Defender Aaron Kurtzer, who is representing Keenan, said in a statement to The Times. “We are now in the process of gathering all the facts and look forward to presenting a defense on behalf of Mr. Keenan.”
A bear burned at the scene of a Murrieta house fire.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
According to the law enforcement affidavit, Hales did not remember whether he had turned off the burner and told authorities he did not turn off the propane tank before going to bed the night of the fire.
He had started preparing food on the stove outside under the wooden garage after the previous fire damaged the kitchen, said officer E. Velazquez in this text.
When investigators searched the home, they found that there were no working smoke alarms and the main exit was partially blocked by dog crates and other items, according to the document. Keenan and his daughter escaped from the fire through a window.
Hales left the house alone, and when he tried to get back inside, he was met with intense heat and smoke that blinded him, his brother Scott Nadler told KTLA.
“Stacy opened the front door and made way for Abby to get out and she turned around and no one was there,” Nadler said. “He couldn’t get back inside.”
The affidavit alleges that both Hales and Keenan have methamphetamine and cannabis in their systems. Hales “admitted to using methamphetamine every day including the day before the fire” and Keenan “admitted to regular use of methamphetamine including the time of the fire.”
A melted children’s slide lies among the debris at the scene of a Murrieta house fire.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
In many ways, public records show, Hales’ life was marked by challenges leading up to the fatal fire.
Murrieta Police Capt. Jeremy Durrant said officers have responded to the home on Knight Drive numerous times since 2013 for domestic violence calls, child protective services and searches.
Durrant declined to provide additional information about the calls.
In 2013, Hales was charged with child endangerment after authorities say she fell asleep watching her three-year-old nephew while the boy wandered around a home in Menifee.
The boy, who was wearing only red shorts, left through an unlocked door and was found around 2:30 p.m. about half a mile away by a school crossing guard, according to an affidavit supporting the arrest warrant.
In 2015, he reached a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to a work-release program and four years, according to the district attorney’s office.
In 2022, Hales’ oldest child, Breden, died in a car accident, according to a GoFundMe set up to support the family.
“The pain is unimaginable,” wrote Jessica Hales, who described herself as a member of the Hales family, in a social media post. The post has been removed.
“At this time, Stacey is seriously injured and has lost her sight, among other burns. She has lost her children, her pets, her home, her car, everything. It is heartbreaking,” the statement said.
