BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — As the mother of the five children killed in a house fire on Dartmouth Avenue on New Year's Eve remembers her children, her face fills with a big smile.
Kenise Robinson said despite having six children all under the age of 10, her home wasn't chaos.
"My kids were gamers. They were into the tablet, watching YouTube. They kept themselves occupied. There's so many of them, they had friends to play with, live-in friends," Robinson said.
Robinson said her kids had big dreams and were eager to achieve them.
"Joelle wanted to be a singer, Jalissa was still on an astronaut, and Aniyah wanted to be a doctor," Robinson said.
Robinson said two-year-old Nehemiah Robinson, her only son, loved cars and trucks.
"That's the only thing he wouldn't share with his sisters. He was the baby. Technically he wasn't the baby, but he was the baby," Robinson said.
On New Year's Eve, a fire ripped through the children's grandparents' home on Dartmouth Avenue. 2-year-old Nehemiah Robinson, 4-year-old Denise Keith, 7-year-old Jalissa Liggins, 8-year-old Joelle Liggans, and 10-year-old Aniyah Green were killed.
"I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that I no longer have six living children, just one," Robinson said, "They were my whole world. My whole life revolved around them, and then this. I don't even know. It's just a lot. It's a lot to process. It's even more not having the support of the people that should be there. I feel like instead of being able to fully mourn and grieve for my kids, I'm dealing with greed and people having malicious intent," Robinson said.
Robinson said she left her family in Washington D.C. and moved to Buffalo eight years ago so her children could be closer to their father. Her kids were only recently put into their grandparents' care as she worked to escape a violent relationship.
But the fire on New Year's Eve, she says she's been kept out of the loop. She says she still doesn't know many details about what happened.
"I'm still in the dark. I'm gathering bits and pieces of information. At a time like this, especially with people who I felt were like my family, watching over my kids, there should be more communication, but I'm basically being kept in the dark," Robinson said.
Robinson said despite an outpouring of donations for the children's grandparents, she has received little help for their funerals.
"It's just for the Liggins family. It's just for the fire. So now, what happens to the children's funeral expenses?" Robinson said.
But through it all, Robinson said she finds comfort in knowing that her babies, although gone so young, have saved five others through organ donations.
"I find it amazing. There were five children saved from Aniyah, Nehemiah, and Denise's organs. I lost five, and somebody gets to keep their five," Robinson said.
