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<p>LAFLIN &#8212; After a <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/680145/police-release-details-on-laflin-fire-that-killed-two-wb-home-being-searched" target="_blank">fire was deliberately set</a> and claimed the lives of two children Wednesday, a Laflin neighborhood is left searching for answers.</p><p>Jeff Woytowich, who grew up in that neighborhood, said most people are wondering why the two brothers who died weren&#8217;t able to get out of the house.</p><p>Luzerne County prosecutor Sam Sanguedolce said at a press conference Thursday the first calls indicating that anything was wrong at 60 Oakwood Drive came from a juvenile hiding in his bedroom with his brothers. The juvenile told dispatchers an individual who wasn&#8217;t supposed to be at the home was on the back porch.</p><p>A second call came in at 7:15 p.m. reporting a fire at the residence, which Sanguedolce confirmed was an arson.</p><p>&#8220;Why were they stuck in there?&#8221; Woytowich asked. &#8220;Why was their fear so great of this individual, that they couldn&#8217;t leave their room?&#8221;</p><p>Devon Major, 12, and Erik Dupree, 16, died due to the fire. A third brother remains hospitalized.</p><p>Woytowich, 47, now lives in Shavertown and owns and operates The Caf&#233; on Route 315, but his parents still live near the Laflin home that burned.</p><p>He was always fearful something was going to happen there.</p><p>&#8220;Since the parents died, the house fell into disrepair, and it&#8217;s a normally well-kept neighborhood,&#8221; Woytowich said, corroborating the statements of other neighbors.</p><p>The parents Woytowich was referring to were Sam and Sue Bellanca, a couple who lived in the home for decades. After their deaths, the home was taken over by Sue Major, the couple&#8217;s daughter. Woytowich described the Bellancas as a great family to grow up next to.</p><p>But recently, things were different.</p><p>&#8220;Different faces were always going in and out, and the windows were broken,&#8221; Woytowich said.</p><p>Court records also indicate financial woes, as Major was being sued for defaulting on her mortgage in April. Nearly $100,000 was owed to HSBC Bank, the lawsuit says. Major has a mediation session scheduled for Dec. 15 before Luzerne County Judge Lesa Gelb.</p><p><strong>&#8216;It&#8217;s a tragedy&#8217;</strong></p><p>Woytowich said nothing could have prepared him for what he saw Wednesday night.</p><p>He described getting a text from one of his customers alerting him to the fire in the area of his family&#8217;s home, and rushing over to see what was happening.</p><p>&#8220;The emotion of seeing kids pulled dead from a home is just heartbreaking, helpless,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a tragedy to see kids die in front of you.&#8221;</p><p>As he was watching the fire, he saw neighbors who he grew up with lining the street.</p><p>&#8220;Seventy-five percent of the people living there have been there for 30, 40, 50 years,&#8221; Woytowich said. &#8220;I just stood there thinking, &#8216;Do they really need this at this age?&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>A person of interest, Preston Bonnett, 26, was taken into custody Thursday on already pending warrants. Bonnett allegedly had a device to manufacture counterfeit credit cards at the home in July, and was cited for allegedly throwing a beer bottle through the home&#8217;s window Oct. 14.</p><p>By Friday evening, though, no charges against the Wilkes-Barre man had been filed in connection to the fire itself.</p><p>With no further answers being released by State Police or the District Attorney&#8217;s Office, the Laflin neighborhood has no choice but to continue to ask questions.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sending prayers,&#8221; Woytowich said. &#8220;Hopefully, the kids rest in peace, and I hope everyone else survives this.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County prosecutor Sam Sanguedolce speaks to the media Thursday about the double-fatal fire in Laflin while standing outside the State Police barracks in Wyoming. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102717Laflin-Homicide1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County prosecutor Sam Sanguedolce speaks to the media Thursday about the double-fatal fire in Laflin while standing outside the State Police barracks in Wyoming. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader  </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_Woytowich.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Woytowich </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_Woytowich.jpg</photo1><caption1>Woytowich </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader  </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Former neighbor expresses shock after deadly arson in Laflin