An autopsy will be conducted to determine what killed a Toccoa woman found dead in a burning home Tuesday.
Stephens County Coroner Chris Stephens identifies the woman as 56-year-old Kaweemah Reeves. Firefighters found her dead in a house on Cherokee Boulevard. They were dispatched to the scene shortly before 2 p.m. on March 24 after neighbors noticed smoke coming from the house and called 911.
When firefighters from Toccoa and Carnes Creek arrived, they encountered heavy smoke and heat in the residence. “A quick search of the residence was performed in zero visibility and firefighters located a victim in the living room,” says Assistant Toccoa Fire Chief Frankie Deitz.
Firefighters removed the victim – later identified as Reeves – from the house and EMS personnel determined she was dead. The fire was confined to the kitchen and was extinguished. It appears to have started on the stove, Deitz says.
A smoke detector was found in the central hallway but did not appear to be operational at the time of the fire.
The GBI Medical Examiner’s Office in Decatur will conduct the autopsy to determine how Reeves died. The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.
