Special-needs teen killed in Bronx house fire hours before her 14th birthday
A special-needs teenager who uses a wheelchair was killed in a house fire in the Bronx Saturday — just hours before her 14th birthday, sources told The Post.
Skylar Michilin was sleeping in her second-floor bedroom at her family’s home on Boyd Avenue between Bussing and Pitman Avenues in the Wakefield neighborhood when the fire broke out just after 4:15 p.m.
“I saw the flames. There were two of us outside — another lady said she called the fire department already — I yelled, ‘Fire, we need people to help,’” said Erdene Kims, 21, who lives on the block.
“A couple of people came in — tried to go in with their phones — but they couldn’t get to her,” Kims added.
“We saw the window break, then we saw the flames coming through the window right on the second floor and all you could have done is say, ‘Lord Jesus we need you.’”
Skylar was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another person suffered minor injuries in the blaze, the FDNY said. The flames were put under control at 5 p.m.
The teenager had gone to lie down in her room shortly before the fire sparked, according to her grieving mother.
“I spoke to her around lunch and I fed her changed her and I gave her lunch — she loves McDonald’s French fries. She was on the bed when I left around 12,” Rosemarie Thompson said.
“We were having a big day for her tomorrow. She was on her iPad. She loved movies, she loved Bart Baker, she loved Christmas songs. Every September she starts to listen to them. Mariah Carey was her favorite time. Her iPad was her friend.”
“She gave the biggest hugs.”
Thompson collapsed in the street when investigators removed Skylar’s body from the home around 9 p.m., screaming, “I want to see Skylar.”
Another woman named Colleen also broke down: “Why did you take her from me, Jesus? Oh, God. Why!”
Skylar, who was nonverbal and had Down’s syndrome, used a wheelchair while at school, which she attended at P10 in Throggs Neck.
She and her family had only moved into their Wakefield home 11 months ago, according to a neighbor.
Neighbors described Skylar as a friendly girl who was passionate about music.
“Everyone is very distraught,” said Natalia Greene, 21.
“Lots of love. Incredibly fun-loving and outgoing.”
Another neighbor said the teenager “was a nice little girl. Sweet girl. She was disabled so she wasn’t interacting a lot with us. She would interact with her brother. She was a really nice girl.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.