McPhee: No justice for Southie blaze deaths

What is the difference between Lakeisha Gadson — the mother who contributed to the murder of her 8-year-old son last month — and Anna Reisopolous, the mom who wasn’t home as her daughters died in each others arms in an arson blaze last week? There is no difference.

But only one of these shameful mothers has been criminally charged. Gadson is serving time in connection with the shooting of her little boy, Laquarrie Jefferson, in Dorchester.

The public is still waiting for Anna Reisopolous to be hit with charges. Why? According to police sources, she was out feeding a drug habit at 3:18 a.m. when some lowlife tossed a Molotov cocktail through the window of her South Boston home, setting a fast-moving fire that killed her daughters; Acia Johnson, 14, and 2-year-old Sophia.

The state’s medical examiner determined the sisters choked to death while their bodies burned on April 5. The manner of their death was homicide. Reisopolous did not set the fatal blaze, but she wasn’t home to save her kids.

Both mothers ran households rife with drug abuse, violence and neglect. Both mothers had long histories with the Department of Social Services. In fact, the slain sisters — who were laid to rest this weekend — had been removed from their mother’s care. But, DSS social workers ignored six abuse reports filed from the W. Sixth St. home the girls were not supposed to be in — including one that came just weeks before the fatal blaze. Baby Sofia had been found wandering through the streets of South Boston alone, her mother nowhere to be found.

Reisopolous was also accused of chasing her 14-year-old son, Raymond, around with a knife. Why didn’t DSS remove the kids after repeated reports? Once again, no clear answers from the DSS Commissioner Anthony “Angelo” McClain.

At least Reisopolous has been cooperative with investigators. When Laquarrie Jefferson’s stomach was ripped open with a bullet squeezed off by his 7-year-old cousin, his mother told her reputed gang-associated son, then 15, to hide the murder weapon. Then she lied to police. The teen is now charged with his half-brother’s death, too.

But the lie didn’t kill little Laquarrie; his mother’s negligence did. And that same negligence by Reisopolous allowed two sisters, with only each other to rely on, to perish alone.

The Michele McPhee Show can be heard on 96.9 FM WTKK weeknights 7 to 10 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to noon.

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