Jasmine Bell said she threw her children from a porch roof as flames blocked the family’s stairs.
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. — Jasmine Bell said she had no time to think before she threw her children from a burning porch roof while police say a relative’s dispute had turned into an arson attack.
The rescue on March 29 is now central to a Westmoreland County criminal case against Anthony Mohamed, 37, of Pittsburgh. Mohamed is accused of intentionally setting fire to the McCargo Street duplex where his stepbrother, Jeris Smith, lived with Bell and their family. Prosecutors charged him with six counts of attempted criminal homicide, aggravated arson, other arson counts, burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, risking catastrophe and nine counts of recklessly endangering another person. The charges are allegations, and Mohamed has not been convicted in the case.
Bell’s account begins after smoke and fire had already made the stairs unusable. She, Smith and their three young children were forced onto the porch roof as flames rose from the first floor. Smith jumped to the ground first. Bell said he then told her to throw the children. “I’m like, ‘Throw the kids?’ Yes, throw the kids,” Bell said. She said she picked up each child, told them, “I love you, I have to throw you,” and tossed them down to Smith. He caught the children below and moved them away from the house. Bell jumped last, landing on her leg and breaking it in five places.
The scene was chaotic before formal rescue operations could fully unfold. Neighbors saw flames coming from the house as residents came off the roof. One neighbor said the family could not stay close to the building because things inside the burning structure had started exploding. The neighbor said they removed a robe, wrapped the children in it and tried to get them out of the street. Firefighters arrived to find the duplex burning and people escaping from the porch roof. New Kensington Fire Chief Ed Saliba said the family could not get down the staircase because heavy fire blocked the way to the first floor.
Six people from Bell’s side of the duplex survived, including Smith’s 18-year-old son, who had been asleep in the basement and escaped through a side door. Three people on the other side of the duplex also escaped. The children were treated for smoke inhalation, and another woman received treatment for smoke inhalation. Bell’s injuries required surgery and physical therapy. Her mother, Nikki Bell, later said the children did not have lingering problems from the smoke and that Jasmine Bell was doing well in recovery. The family stayed in Pittsburgh after the blaze and was preparing for another move as the criminal case developed.
The fire changed the property and the families’ lives in minutes. The duplex stood at the corner of McCargo Street and Freeport Road in New Kensington, a city northeast of Pittsburgh. Reports from the scene described smoke pouring from the structure, firefighters working outside and the McCargo Street side of the building gutted by the blaze. The fire displaced two families. For Bell, the damage was not only the loss of a home. She later said the person who set the fire had “tried to kill my children,” a statement that matched the seriousness of the attempted homicide charges prosecutors later filed.
Authorities said the fire was not accidental. A Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal ruled that it was intentionally set and said it began in the living room. Investigators said a direct flame device was used to ignite combustibles inside the structure. Police also said surveillance cameras in the neighborhood captured a suspect moving around the house shortly before the alarm and smoke. The footage showed a person identified as Mohamed approaching the home around 7:38 a.m., carrying a gas can at one point, leaving with two backpacks, returning without them and running away after a smoke detector could be heard, according to police.
Police said the fire followed an earlier fight between Mohamed and Smith. At least one of Smith’s sons was also involved in that earlier conflict, according to the criminal complaint described in reports. Investigators said text messages in the week before the blaze showed Mohamed wanted to continue the fight. They also said Mohamed traveled by bus from Pittsburgh Regional Transit to New Kensington, arriving around 7:30 a.m. and leaving around 8:30 a.m. Authorities have not publicly described every message or released the complete video, but they said the evidence tied Mohamed to the scene before the fire began.
Mohamed was not immediately in custody after the charges were filed. Police sought him on a warrant, and the case drew public attention because of the rooftop escape and the number of people inside the duplex. The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office later said U.S. marshals arrested Mohamed in Allegheny County on May 22. He was held in the Allegheny County Jail after his arrest, according to reports citing the office. An online docket listed a June 2 preliminary arraignment. At that stage, the court process turns to the complaint, the fire marshal’s ruling, the surveillance footage and testimony that may be presented.
The case also shows how arson charges can depend on both the cause of a fire and the danger created for people inside. Mohamed faces separate allegations tied to the setting of the fire, the risk to property, the danger of death or injury, and the number of people allegedly placed in danger. Six attempted homicide counts correspond to the people on the McCargo Street side who were forced to flee. Nine reckless endangerment counts reflect the broader group of people in the duplex. Prosecutors also charged burglary and trespass, signaling that they allege Mohamed entered or remained at the property unlawfully before the fire.
Bell’s story remains the human center of the case, while investigators’ timeline gives prosecutors the framework for court. As of the latest available reports, Mohamed had been arrested, a preliminary arraignment had been listed for June 2, and the families displaced from McCargo Street were still dealing with injuries, relocation and the loss of the home.
Author note: Last updated June 20, 2026.