Only On Today's THV: Ola Man Arrested In Connection Of Toddler Death

The death of a three-year-old who died in a house fire in Belleville is now ruled a murder.

The fire happened on August 15th, 2008. The girl's mother Holly Curtis and her boyfriend Danny Joe Furr were home at the time. Now, after an intense 8-month investigation, police are confident they have enough evidence to prove three-year-old Ivy died before the fire.

On August 15th police and firefighters showed up to what looked like an accidental house fire where a 3-year-old girl died and two adults made it out.

Lt. John Foster with the Yell County Sheriff's Department says, "We did a search warrant the next morning soon after the fire and went and gathered evidence at the scene."

Lt. Foster says investigators found evidence of foul play in the toddlers room and the mothers boyfriend Danny Joe Furr gave inconsistent statements.

He says "Mr. Furr has only limited cooperation with us he requested an attorney early on in the investigation."

After several weeks the Arkansas State Crime Lab results came in with evidence of an accelerant in the room where 3-year-old Ivy died and with traces of Valium and Lidocaine in her system.

"And they (Crime Lab) said that caused a condition that caused her death before the fire, so the child was actually dead before it started," Lt. Foster adds.

Friday, deputies arrested 32-year-old Danny Furr on murder and arson charges.

Lt. Foster explains, "It's had a big impact on the community. I've been especially concerned with the firefighters who responded to the scene because a lot of them were having difficulty with this after having to go work that scene."

Lt. Foster says although Furr continues to maintain his innocence he will now have to prove it, "We just hope everything goes well in the trial and we're looking forward to giving him a fair trail and seeing how things go there."

Police tell us the toddler's mom, Holly Curtis has never been a suspect. She has two other children who were at their grandparents at the time of the fire.

Furr is in jail in Danville on a $750,000 bond.

Yell County Sheriff's Department Press Release:

Danny Joe Furr (32), was served with an arrest warrant on Friday, May 1, 2009, charging him with one count of Murder in the First Degree, and one count of Arson. The arrest came at the end of an eight month investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff's investigators responded on the morning of August 15, 2008, to the scene of a house fire near Belleville, Arkansas, where the body of Curtis was found in a back room. Investigators from the Sheriff's Department and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Arkansas State Police then executed a search warrant on the residence and collected several items of evidence which were later submitted to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory.

According to Lt. John Foster, of the Sheriff's Department, investigators obtained statements from both Holly Curtis (30), the child's mother, and Danny Joe Furr, the mother's boyfriend at the time, soon after the fire. Foster indicated that both Furr and Curtis were home at the time of the fire, but the investigation had led to charges against Furr after a thorough review of the evidence and several inconsistencies were uncovered in statements Furr had made to investigators.

According to reports from the Arkansas State Medical examiner, the child had died prior to the fire, and the cause of death was due to a condition resulting from illicit drug ingestion. Additional reports from the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory indicated that evidence of the presence of accelerants was discovered in the room where the child's body was recovered.