Murrieta parents arrested for fire that killed their two daughters

Murrieta police arrested a Riverside County couple for a fire that killed two of their daughters last December.

Mother Stacey Hales, 46, was arrested on nine felony counts, including reckless burning causing death, child endangerment and under the influence of a controlled substance. The father of the girls, Adam Keenan, 43, was arrested on two counts of child endangerment and under the influence of a controlled substance, according to the Murrieta Police Department.

Hales was released after posting a $160,000 bail. Keenan was arrested on March 13 and booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center.

Officers expect the Riverside County District Attorney's Office to file formal criminal charges against both Hales and Keenan. 

The early morning fire that killed their children, Abby and Emma, happened on Dec. 20. Murrieta Fire & Rescue said the flames fully engulfed the family's mobile home, carport and surrounding outbuildings. 

Firefighters extinguished the flames in about 45 minutes and located the girls' remains inside. Six of the family's pets also died, according to Murrieta Fire & Rescue.

Hales, Keenan and another daughter were hospitalized after the fire. 

"It's devastating. Everyone one of our firefighters that was here had children," Chief Bernard Molloy said last December. "A lot of them have children that are that age."

Murrieta PD said its investigators worked with Murrieta Fire & Rescue and determined that "there was sufficient evidence to establish probable cause" that the couple "were criminally responsible" for the deadly fire.