Detectives treat case as homicide

Police continue to investigate while awaiting the coroner's ruling.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Stuffed animals, cards and pictures line the outside of what days ago was the home of Lena Cross and her children.
Meanwhile, police and fire officials investigate her death, and family and friends wait for answers.
The Trumbull County coroner's office hasn't ruled on a cause of death for Cross who was killed in a Tuesday house fire, along with her two young children -- but police are treating the deaths as if they are homicides.
A coroner's staffer said results of Cross' autopsy are pending; they may not be made public for six to eight weeks. Officials are waiting on the conclusion of the state fire marshal's report and lab work before making a determination.
Investigation
Police Chief Frank Bigowsky said officers are continuing their investigation despite the lack of an official cause-of-death ruling on the mother.
"I don't want the public to think we are going to sit back and wait on a ruling from the coroner," he said. "Until we are told to stop, we are going to continue to process information and keep following leads. We are going to do what we have to do."
Fire tore through 413 Dearborn St. on Tuesday morning, killing Cross, 22, and her sons, Mason Cross, 5, and Christian Pizzulo, 2. City firefighters found all three in the home.
The children were found upstairs in their beds. Their mother was found after the fire had been extinguished, lying on a couch in the downstairs front room.
Bigowsky said the official cause of death for the children is smoke inhalation.
Neighbor's feelings
Laura Macgregor of Girard said hearing that police are continuing to investigate the fire as a homicide is a small comfort to family and friends. She said she had lived only a few houses from Cross for years. She still kept in touch with Cross and her family.
Macgregor said Cross was an excellent mother who would have protected her two young children at all costs. That, she said, leaves friends and family to wonder what transpired in the house just before the deadly fire.
"I am guaranteeing that if Lena had been aware of a fire in that house, she would have fought tooth and nail to get those kids out," Macgregor said.
Macgregor said many close to the family feel something happened to the young mother before the fire that kept her from leaving the front room where the blaze started. She said they are hoping investigators find whatever that something is.
Still, Macgregor cannot imagine anyone who would have wanted to harm the young mother.
Canvassing community
The family has called upon anyone in the community with information to come forward and speak to police.
Bigowsky said Girard officers and members of the Trumbull County Homicide Task Force have been canvassing the area and talking to neighbors.
He would not say what was learned by officers, but he did say it was not enough to rule out the possibility of homicide.
Bigowsky said officers also collected a number of items from the house, but he declined to say what those items are. It has been determined that the house had a smoke alarm, but he said officers are not sure if it went off when the fire started.
Bigowsky said investigating the fire has been made more difficult because the fire "consumed a good part of the living room" where Lena Cross was found. Officials believe the fire started in that room.
Police initially believed a rear door to the home was partially open when police and firefighters arrived. Bigowsky said police now have determined the door was not open when officials arrived at the house.
jgoodwin@vindy.com