The Fire That Left Too Many Questions | Forensic Files

Hi Crime Junkies, I'm your host Ashley Flowers. >> And I'm Britt. In 2023, a fire tore
through a Chicago family home and killed everyone inside. A mother and her three
kids. It seemed like an especially cruel way for them to go considering that the
woman's husband, the kids' father, was a Chicago firefighter who was on duty that
night fulfilling his oath to protect and serve the city. The community rallied around the surviving family who'd been
torn apart by what seemed to be a terrible accident. But not everyone believed it wasn't accident. Within
weeks of the fire, someone emailed me and told me to watch this case closely as it unfolded because everything might
not be what it seems. Three years and one back-and-forth legal fight with the Chicago Police Department later, what
I'm going to share with you might make you agree that something isn't right here.
But I'll let you be the judge. This is the never-before-told story of the Day Stewart family house fire.
It's shortly after 9:00 p.m. on March 7th, 2023 when a call for a multiple alarm fire comes through the radio at
the Chicago firehouse. Firefighter Walter Sean Stewart, who everyone calls Sean, is on duty that night and he
recognizes the address coming through over the speaker. 2554 North Rutherford Avenue. That's his house.
Now, his station is hearing the message over dispatch even though their unit isn't the one designated to respond. But
I mean, if you think he's not going, you're out of your mind. He rushes to the battalion chief, tells him that
[music] he has to leave, and asks if he'll go with him. And within minutes, the two are in the chief's SUV speeding
across Chicago's Montclare neighborhood. The chief behind the wheel and Sean staring at just this [music] smoke
rising in the distance. The 20-minute drive probably took less if they had their emergency light on, but it must
have still felt like an eternity. It didn't take responding firefighter engines long though. 2 minutes after the
neighbor had called 911, firefighters were on the scene breaking through the front and back doors, and from the back
door one team went into the home's enclosed back porch. And that's where they found the family dog Mabel in
[music] a crate, and the smoke had already gotten to her, which meant that they were running out of time to get to
the family that the neighbor said lived there. The back porch leads directly into the
kitchen where the firefighters who entered through the front door were already there fighting flames. And to
the left of the kitchen was a room with a single mattress on the floor. And they almost missed 7-year-old Ezra
because he wasn't on the mattress. Trying to run from the flames that had already lapped up his body and given him
second-degree burns, he had collapsed and was [music] unconscious on the floor near the foot of the staircase that led
from that room that he was in to the [music] second floor. As one firefighter scooped him up to take him outside,
others ascended the staircase and fanned out to check the rooms upstairs. In the first room on the right, they
found a 2-year-old boy, Emery, unconscious in his crib. In the next bedroom, painted pink and full of
soot-covered stuffed animals, they found 9-year-old Autumn unconscious on the floor near the window.
By now, Sean and his chief had arrived at the chaotic scene, and he watched as fellow firefighters came out of the
house one by one carrying all of his children and laying them on the lawn to be tended to by paramedics. But his wife
wasn't there. Where was 36-year-old Summer? Firefighters hadn't seen her in the house, but between the flames and
the smoke, visibility was like next to nothing, and she could still be there. I mean, if the kids were there, she had to
be there. So, they were sent back in to do a second sweep. And that is when they
found Summer in her first-floor bedroom unresponsive on the floor near the side of her bed. Now, when she's finally
carried out of the house and placed on the lawn with the children, Sean runs to her and begins performing CPR until the
EMTs are able to load her and the kids up in ambulances and take [music] them off.
But, they will never be coming back home. One by one, like the way they came out of that house over the next few
days, they succumbed to their injuries and [music] pass away without ever waking up, without ever being able to
say what happened that night or what caused the fire that ravaged their home. That was a mystery left for the Chicago
Fire Department investigators and Chicago police. And anyone who is familiar with fire investigation will
know that they're notoriously difficult because the entire scene is one giant ball of contamination. everything on the
first floor is covered in water and soot and debris. There is no drywall even left to speak [music] of. And even the
support beams of the house in this fire, the ones that are exposed, those are all
charred. But, despite everything that is ruined by the fire, there is some evidence that the fire itself provides.
Like where it started and what could have caused it. Pretty quickly, everyone hones in on the kitchen. [music]
Actually, one particular area on the east half where the fire patterns indicate that it originated. And a
couple of key clues right around there are interesting to them. The stove and this outlet. On the stove, there was a
pot on the rear left burner and a pan kind of sitting like on the right side. And even though the plastic knobs on the
stove had melted away, [music] investigators could see that the leftover metal stem was clearly turned
to high. And near the stove that had clearly been turned on, they also saw a melted water cooler plugged into a
charred extension cord that ran all the way to the wall. So, they know the what and where. The fire started in this
general area of the kitchen. What they don't know is how and why. Like, was there a spark from this outlet? Did
something bubble over on the stove? When? Who put it there? >> Well, and I assume they tested for
accelerants and stuff like that, too, right? Well, according to the reports that we have from the Chicago police,
there is only one piece of evidence that they sent off in this case for testing.
There was this metal can that was on the floor near the stove, and they had that
tested, like seeing if there was any kind of accelerant or anything or like anything in it. But, they found out this
had nothing to do with the cause of the fire. So, that is the scene side of things. The
what, the where, the how, that's being handled by the Chicago Fire Department. Chicago police detectives are trying to
collect anything that might give them the who or the why. And the first person they turn to
is Sean. When they speak to him on March 19th, this is like nearly 2 weeks after
the fire. He tells them that, obviously, he wasn't at the house that night because he was
on duty at the fire station. He says he got there at like 6:00 in the morning, did some grocery shopping at two local
stores at around 8:00 so that he could make dinner for the crew that night, and he was there until he heard the call
come over the radio at around 9:00 p.m. And there are a couple subsequent interviews that they conduct with other
people on duty who all confirm this. Now, I don't know how in detail they get with him about his family's lives or
what could have contributed to the fire because all that is in this file is an investigator's quick write-up
summarizing the conversations they had with them. But, the investigator makes note of something that I assume he
thinks is important. Sean tells him that Summer abused alcohol and was often intoxicated. So, maybe that's the
contributing factor here, right? I mean, at the scene near Summer on the floor where she was found in her room, they
also found a mostly full bottle of Jack Daniel's. And then, on the side table in
her room, there were a few soda cans, a Styrofoam cup, a red Solo cup. And if that wasn't the tip-off that she'd been
drinking, the blood that they took from her when they first got her to the hospital was. Summer's blood alcohol
level was one of the probably highest I've ever seen in a case, [music] .312, almost four times the legal limit. So,
she could have very easily forgotten that she was cooking and passed out. Another thing I don't see mentioned in
any of the reports, but we learned from talking to Summer's sister, Sarah, and Sarah's wife, Amber, is that Ezra, their
middle child, had non-verbal autism. The reason he was sleeping downstairs instead of upstairs with the other kids
is because he had trouble sleeping, which seems pretty common for children with autism. And he would often roam
around downstairs, sometimes escape if no one was looking and just like beeline into traffic. It was super dangerous.
So, Summer had converted their dining room into a bedroom for him so that they would be on the same floor, and she
actually had these security latches installed on the doors to prevent him from getting out. So,
what if it's this combo of everything? Summer passes out, maybe she left something on the stove, maybe not. Maybe
Ezra is still awake and moving about the house. He goes into the kitchen. Summer's sister told us that in the
past, Summer had issues with Ezra playing with the stove knobs. So, sometimes she took them off the stove
completely to prevent him from messing with them. But that night, March 7th, it looks like those knobs were on. So, was
it possible that Ezra was playing with the stove and it was just all this tragic accident? Police make no mention
of this in their narrative reports, but I do think it's relevant. >> And do they have an idea of how that day
and night played out for them? Like after Sean left for work, did they see anyone? Did anyone see them? Like are
there phone records of anything? They don't pull any of that as far as I can tell. I mean, like at least from the
reports that we have, it doesn't look like they even talked to anyone besides Sean and his coworkers. They just get
the info from him, work to confirm his alibi, and then wait for the autopsy reports to come in. But even when they
get those, I mean, there's not a ton that helps. Like no surprise injuries, like all four died as a result from the
fire. There was, though, one strange detail that came back in the autopsies. Two-year-old Emery had a tiny amount of
the drug lorazepam in his system. Now, the autopsy report says it wasn't enough to be fatal or even close to an
overdose, but everything I read is that pediatricians would only give this drug in like a clinical setting, not at home,
and usually it's given for things like seizures or severe anxiety episodes or in emergency situations where they need
to sedate a young child. [music] To my knowledge, none of this applies to Emery. So, how did it get in this baby's
system? >> Yeah. The autopsy report makes no attempt to answer that question, and
neither do investigators, according to the documents we have. Once they know the deaths were caused by a fire, and
that fire is ultimately concluded to be a result of either an electrical malfunction or what they call human
action, meaning someone left that stove on, CFD decides to make their final ruling on the fire, undetermined
suspended. And CPD classifies the deaths as non-criminal, [music] meaning they're done investigating
unless some big new piece of evidence comes to light. >> But why not just call it an accident?
That's basically what they're saying, because it seems like there is more investigating that could
be done if they wanted to, right? Like, have we canvassed the neighborhood? You said they never got call records. Like
I'm really interested in those. >> I don't think this was truly like a lack of investigative leads and we have no
idea what happened. It seems like they have a pretty good idea of what they think happened, but I learned that it's
not unusual for a fire investigators to be a little vague in their cause if they're not immediately sure if it's
criminal in nature because they like to leave the door open for insurance agencies to do their own investigations.
So, by August, this case is closed. And family and friends of the Day-Stewart family are left reeling. Local headlines
ran with stories about Sean's unimaginable loss and the whole community really rallied around him. I
mean, strangers and neighbors covered their soot-blackened back porch with stuffed animals [music] and flowers,
while the Chicago Fire Department launched the Stewart Family Fund to raise money for Sean. And there was a
massive showing for the two separate funerals held in Chicago. One for the public, which the fire department showed
up for in droves, and another that was a Jehovah's Witness service to honor Summer's religion. There were even two
celebrations of life back on the West Coast, where Summer had a lot of friends and where her sister lives. But, while
people were grieving across the nation for this senseless loss, someone in the Chicago area was emailing me.
The tip was it was vague. And the source said that they couldn't go on record. But, they told me to pay attention to
this story as it unfolds, because though it looks like a tragic accident on the surface,
there might be more if I dug deeper. >> That is like such an Ashley bait email. That's like the perfect way to kidnap
you, honestly. >> It was. But, listen, at that moment, I didn't jump. I did what the tipster told
me to do. I waited. I watched to see how this unfolded. But, it didn't. The story
just kind of faded from the headlines in 2023 and 2024, and in the chaos of running two weekly shows, I almost
forgot about it. Almost. Until March of last year. That's when I put our reporter Jen Amel
on this case. Wait, like just off of this email 2 years ago, or was there like something else that kind of like
peaked your interest, something happened? Nothing else. Just this email. >> And then this feeling that I had. So, I
asked Jen, like, go talk to Summer's family, pull some records, tell me if there is a there there. See if you can
find any indication that we should keep digging. I mean, maybe this is totally off base.
And you want to know the first thing she came back to me with? It turns out Summer was planning on taking the kids
and leaving her firefighter husband, Shawn, >> [music] >> on March 8th. But she never got the chance because the
day before she was set to leave, a fire broke out in her home that killed them all. So, as you can imagine, we kept
digging. And you will not believe what we found. Whenever there's a controversial trial,
do you ever wonder, >> [music] >> did the jury get it right? I'm Brandy Churchwell, and this is
[music] the 13th Juror podcast, where we break down real court cases and put you
in the juror's seat. All right, jury entering courtroom. When the gavel [music] falls, the jury's
decision may be final, but the debate is far from over. Listen to 13th Juror [music] wherever
you get your podcasts. We, the jury, find as follows as the count. All the stories about this tragedy in
the local papers painted Shawn as the grieving husband and father who had suffered an unexpected [music]
and monumental loss. And yes, that might have been true, but what the stories all
left out was the tumultuous relationship between Shawn and Summer and the years of alleged abuse that she and their kids
suffered at his hands. And I don't know why because it's not something that Summer hid. I mean, she told most of her
loved ones about this and we have the receipts. I'm talking pages upon pages of Summer's texts to her friends and her
sister. Pictures of on her and the kids allegedly from Shawn and videos that Summer took that paint a concerning
picture. The earliest video her sister shared with us comes from 2013, 10 years before her death.
Tell me all about how I'll never, ever, ever ever hurt me again. And this time I'm
going to video tape it. That way when he does he'll be able to watch this. That's not really fair.
But I guess I've done enough damage to you, so I understand. I love you, baby. And
I'm really sorry for everything I've done to you. I'm really sorry that I've done so much
to hurt you. I love you so much. He loves me so much. You hear that? And he's sorry.
Look at this. He's even a little grin on his face. It's cuz he likes being on video.
You're mean. See? You're mean. >> He's smiling now. >> No, [ __ ] cuz you're making jokes.
>> Very serious subject matter, but he's like, "I love being on video." Please. He's trying everything he can to not
smile. See? >> [laughter] >> Shut up. You're mean. You're making me laugh. It's not fair.
Three seconds before this video, he was laying down with tears in his eyes telling me how he's never going to hurt
me again. And I'd heard it so many times before that I thought to myself, I wish I could
video tape this. Oh, wait. I can. Please stop making a joke out of it. All right. I love you.
>> [clears throat] >> I love you so much. I'm really I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry
about You know, like I I supposed to be like the nice guy. I wasn't supposed to break your heart. I
wasn't supposed to make you feel all this pain and distrust. I'm sorry for lying to you.
I love you and I don't want you to have to worry every time you know, when you have to think
is he lying? Is he telling me the truth? I don't want you to think like that. I never wanted that.
I'm sorry. I'm I love you. I love your face. I love being with you. I love you. What's that?
What's that? What? I wanted this to be more serious. I love you. Why are you smiling over
I'm all smiley face. >> Cuz that was the most insincere thing that I've ever seen. And every time
I feel like I'm believing you all over again, I'm going to watch this video. I don't know if she ever showed him that
video again, >> [music] >> or what they each thought looking back on it. But the cycle of abuse is
textbook. Violence, apology, violence again. And the kids don't seem to have been spared. I mean, here is one video
that Summer took of their daughter Autumn. It was filmed on September 14th, 2021, when Autumn was only seven. Tell
me what happened, what you told me earlier, okay? That you were sitting on the bed
and Tell me what happened, okay? First, papa uh So, he was talking to you and I was on the
phone, right? He [snorts] was talking to you on the phone and uh I started making some loud sounds like I
couldn't hear it and then he and then I standing I sitting on I then and then I made some louder sounds and then I sat
down and then he he took my neck and pushed it down onto the bed and it >> And you fell
back onto the bed? And it and I told papa that it hurted. And now my neck is sore and weak.
After that incident, 3 months later in December 2021, Summer secretly recorded a fight between her and Shawn that she
sent to her friend Chloe. Now, you can't see much in the video. She sets the phone down, but Summer's sister
identifies Shawn as the second voice. Now, the only parts I cut from this one are some silences at the beginning and
then this brief moment where the two seem to leave the room where the phone is and you can't really make out what it
is they're saying until they come back in. [music] And I want to give just a quick warning, I am not going to censor
this video clip cuz I think it is important that you get the full picture unfiltered.
Did you take the car keys? It doesn't matter. You did, didn't you? You took my car keys to keep me from
leaving after all of that, didn't you? You don't have to be I know. You know what I want.
The thing is You don't want to ever want to You don't ever want to like work on [ __ ] You just
want to Shawn, treat me like [ __ ] >> stop yelling at me. You've been yelling at me for over an hour. I'm shaking.
It's not my It's not an hour. I'm shaking. Please stop. Yeah. I didn't hit you though. It's probably
better than I can tell you how I feel. hands around my face and squeezed and wouldn't let me go.
I was more than willing to do you a favor until you did all of that to me. No, no, no. Can't do you a favor, Shawn.
It's such a hard thing. You're going to give me alcohol and you're going to give
me food. I'm not lying. And you can you can I can do all these things for me and
you can you can wake up and take care of the kids and I can sleep and you can even offer this to take care of the kids
some more and then I'm just going to say no. No, cuz You have been yelling at me
and scaring me. You pushed our daughter. You won't leave me alone and now you want me to do you a favor. Yes.
Because it's not fair. >> my daughter's outside crying because I can't have her in the house near you
right now. What's your problem? That is my problem. >> What's your problem, buddy? Why do you
have to be mean to me? Does it make you feel good? You push my buttons and get this going. You get to this point. Do
you like [ __ ] you want me to be here? YOU WANT ME TO [ __ ] BE HERE? DOES IT FEEL GOOD? DOES it feel good when you do
this? When you like when you [ __ ] [ __ ] do this and you KNOW I CAN'T [ __ ] DO ANYTHING EXCEPT GET MAD about
it. I can't talk to you about anything. No, you haven't. You're the problem. I am you begging you to leave me alone.
You always make fun of me. You're like a bully. YOU'RE A LITTLE [ __ ] [clears throat] YOU THINK YOU'RE so
[ __ ] cool. It's so funny to make fun of me AND MAKE ME FEEL LIKE [ __ ] I WANT YOU TO PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE. I'M
[ __ ] DEPRESSED. DO YOU CARE? You don't care. YOU JUST KEEP [ __ ] WITH ME. YOU THINK IT'S OKAY.
YOU THINK IT'S OKAY? WHY DON'T YOU [ __ ] STOP? HEY SEAN. YEAH, SEAN. YOU'RE A PIECE OF
YOU'RE A PIECE of [ __ ] Let me just [ __ ] with you a little more. You [ __ ] take
this and that and this. Let me know. Sean. That one sucks. That one sucks, too. You suck.
AND WHO'S CALLING IT? YOU. BECAUSE YOU CAN'T BE NICE. I'm going to go. I'm going to go.
Something I need you to a favor before you go. That's what's causing this. No, you know what? That's what's causing
this. It's not causing this. You're freaking out because you see I'm not going to get
you your pot. You're having a severe meltdown. I'm asking you so many times to leave me
alone. I tell you I'm shaky. I tell you our daughter's outside in the cold freezing because she's too terrified to
be inside with you and you can't even go in your room and shut the door for a few
minutes. You're just going to keep yelling at me. How do you think you're going to bully
me into doing this? Just No, I'm just so tired. And I know you're not going to [ __ ] get it. You see a minute. I can
be [ __ ] by myself all alone again. And all I was trying to do is HAVE A GOOD DAY.
SEAN, >> [laughter] >> PLEASE GO IN YOUR ROOM FOR A MINUTE. AUTUMN'S STILL watching you. All I
wanted to have a good day, but you [ __ ] [ __ ] it up. Okay, yes, I know. I'm the [ __ ] [ __ ] I've heard
it a million times. I hate it when you keep [ __ ] with me. I hate when you tell her to stop me. I
don't care about you. You're beautiful. This is not about that. You're Now Autumn's going to start crying.
Please. >> [laughter] >> This and more was par for the course. Summer told her friends and noted on
official court documents that Sean would put his hands around her neck or cover her nose and mouth with his hand. And in
that video of Autumn, you have her saying dad went after her neck, too. >> Mhm. Now, we don't know if Summer asked
Autumn to say those things in the video about her dad squeezing her neck, and we
can't ask. But this behavior, even if it was just against Summer, is deeply concerning. I mean, he may have said he
was sorry, that it would never happen again. We asked Sean about all three videos directly and the abuse
allegations Summer made to her friends, but he wouldn't comment. He also didn't comment on if he'd ever been physically
violent with the kids. But we obtained police records showing that Summer called the cops on him in January of
2022. She told police that Sean pinned her against the wall and shook her head from side to side. So, Sean was
arrested, charged with domestic battery, [music] and then in March 2022, Summer got a protective order against him. And
I assume all of this is public record? Like, where was this in the police files? Yeah, so the arrest and domestic
battery charge is public record. Police knew about it, and Shawn even referenced
it in their first interview. He told detectives that he was living in the little coach house behind the main house
because of the whole protective order thing. But, remember, police didn't talk to her
family or anything, or at least they didn't include that in the reports that we have.
>> But, you still know this man is charged with abusing her. And she's gotten an
open case against him, and she's just about to leave him when she and her kids suddenly die. Which is why I assume they
worked so hard to establish his alibi. But, two little points of clarity. Number one, it's unclear if Shawn knew
that she was actually going to be leaving for good. So, a lot of the people knew that she was going to be
spending the evening of March 7th packing up [music] for a trip that her and the kids were going to go on on the
8th. >> Mhm. She told a few friends and family, including Shawn, that this was just like
a temporary thing though, that she was just going to care for a good friend in Oregon who'd gotten diagnosed with
cancer. And that part was true. Her friend's name was Chloe Boyle. And Summer had like booked Airbnbs along the
route to Oregon. She even wrote her kids' school saying that they would be away for 3 weeks due to a family
emergency. >> Mhm. But, it was after Summer died that Chloe reached out to her family to tell
them the full plan. That Summer was coming to help, sure, yes, but she did not think Summer intended to go home.
She wasn't making the trip just because she was a good friend. She said that Summer had been planning this for
months. She had gotten her tax return. She'd gotten some cash. She was going to take the kids and leave Shawn and move
in with her. So, that's thing one. Number two, yes, she had an active case against him,
but guess what? Those charges all got dropped after the fire in March 2023. So, none of this answers the logistical
questions we had earlier. Like, not how did this fire get started, but the why? I mean, was it an accident? Purposeful?
I mean, this is timing that literal research says should not be ignored. >> Right. And yet, this case is a closed
case. The city of Chicago couldn't tell us how the fire started. So, we hired our own arson expert to take a
look and tell us what he sees. His name is Dale Risen of Risen Fire Consultants.
This guy's investigated over 1,200 fires in his career, so he knows what he's talking about. And right away, when Dale
looked at the photos of the kitchen, he says that it is pretty obvious what likely caused this fire. He's not super
interested in the water cooler or its extension cord going into the wall outlet. He hones right in on that pot
sitting on the stove, [music] the one still standing upright on the back burner. Dale said that he can't be
certain without doing any tests, but based on his experience, that pot shows signs of a greasy or oily substance. So,
he thinks that whatever was in this pot was heated to a boil that bubbled over the side. And when it reached a flash
point, it then caught the ceiling on fire and spread into the [music] attic from there, emitting toxic levels of
black smoke throughout the house. >> they test for that? They could, but there's nothing in the report saying
they did. So, we can't be 100% sure that's what happened. But based on everything he's seen, past and present,
and looking at these scene pictures, which we do have, Dale is pretty sure that there was oil in that pot. How long
would it have needed to heat up before it caught fire? Well, quicker than you'd think. So, Dale said that it it depends
on what type of oil it was and like how much was in the pot. Something like new canola oil could flash in a matter of me
10 minutes and if it was reused oil, it'd be even quicker. So, when you put this in terms of a timeline, just like
reorient us, the 911 call about the fire comes at 9:09 p.m. >> Mhm. Based on the conditions, they believe
that the fire started some 20 to 30 minutes before that call, tops. Then, say it was this oil scenario, you need
10 minutes for that. Someone starts heating the oil around 8:30-ish, maybe. And I think this
scenario rules out an accident because of something like Ezra did. He might accidentally play with the knobs, but
he's not filling a pot with oil. Like, that's just not happening. And I don't think it's something that just gets left
out on the stove. >> I mean, I know some people might leave it out if they're like very into deep
frying things. I mean, you deep fry things, but you don't leave a pot of oil out, right?
>> of smells. Like, you don't want that out. >> Yeah, and I don't think Summer specifically would leave something like
that out knowing that Ezra played with the knobs. You mean, you never know, but we actually asked Summer's mom,
Maria, about this and she told us that Summer wasn't into deep frying. She was pretty adamant about cooking healthy for
her kids. And she even remembers giving Summer an air fryer as a housewarming gift. I have an air fryer, like so much
easier, so much cleaner. I don't use anything else. >> yeah. >> Yeah. All that to say,
it is a scenario where she put oil on the stove is still not impossible, though. And
that's like a cooking situation. So, what time was dinner? She's got little kids. I don't personally see her
whipping up a labor-intensive, like deep-fried meal for them at 8:30. That's, in my opinion, like
bedtime range for little kids. >> Yeah, and when you think about it, they're all in their respective sleeping
areas when the fire happens anyway, right? Like, to me, if this is an accident where she was going to make
something and then like fell asleep and forgot about it, then maybe it was like just something for herself, a late-night
[music] snack. But, we kind of played this scenario out with Dale like suggesting that, and that's when he
pointed to something else from the scene photos in Summer's bedroom. He said, "There is what looks to be a recently
made sandwich on her bedside table." Which is like right there, you can see it clear as day when you look at the
photos. And I know that's not exactly evidence, but it's like But it's very curious.
>> Yeah. So, if she wasn't making something to eat, why would there be a pot of hot oil on
the stove? Uh well, we asked Dale that, and he's like, "Well, listen, as someone who knows about fires,
if you wanted to make a fire look like an accident, a pot of oil is one of the best ways to do it.
You just set the oil on high heat and walk away. If no one is around to catch the blaze right away, or the smoke
detectors don't alert people in the house loud enough or fast enough, it's over before you know it. Though, that is
assuming you have working smoke detectors in your house, which we assumed the Day-Stewart house
would have, right? >> Yeah, Shawn's a literal fireman. Well, >> [music] >> we were shocked with what we found.
Something that continued to nag our reporter Jen and me is how the family died of smoke inhalation before they
could get out of the house. I mean, this wasn't a huge house. Even if the kids had been put to bed before the fire
started around 8:30, 8:40, how hadn't the smoke alarms woken anyone up? Well, the first answer is that there may not
have been enough. According to Shawn in a court affidavit, there were two smoke detectors in the house. One on the
second floor in the hallway and a second one in the hallway right by the kitchen.
And he also had one carbon monoxide detector in his basement. All of these were the brand Kidde. And let me read
you this from the CFD response report. It reads, quote, "Smoke detectors were observed and heard alerting in the
structure during suppression and the investigation, particularly sounding on the second floor." End quote.
But there's something up with all of this, especially with the smoke detector on the first floor. You see, after the
fires, Shawn sued Kidde, the manufacturer of the smoke alarms and the CO detector. He alleges that the smoke
alarms didn't alert at all. The report said they heard an alarm noise. >> Right. I mean, they even call out the
one upstairs. So, I don't know how that plays into his allegations. But he basically says that his family was
sleeping and they should have woken up, but the alarms failed. Now, maybe we're all saying the same thing, kind of. It's
very possible that the alarms didn't go off soon enough to wake them. And this is actually a very real issue and should
be a huge takeaway from this episode for everyone listening. There are actually two different kinds of smoke alarms.
You have photoelectric and ionization only. Now, luckily, turns out we have our own in-house expert on this, our
director of reporting, Courtney Stewart. She did this whole exposé for her former
newspaper on smoke alarms. >> Oh. Basically, the deal is ionization only smoke alarms detect fires with
flames, but they do not detect smoldering fires, which ends up causing so many unnecessary deaths.
You need the photoelectric ones for that. [music] Kidde has been the subject of a recent class action lawsuit for
advertising smoke alarms that don't alert early enough during smoldering fires. So, you guys go home, check your
smoke alarms. This could save your life. Yeah. So, Shawn is saying there are two
smoke alarms that just didn't go off or didn't go off early enough or whatever. Report says they hear at least one
upstairs by the time they're there. And we can see the one that is upstairs in the scene photos that we have. Where I
get really tripped up is this second one, the one by the kitchen where there actually would have been the biggest
blaze. Even if these were ionization only detectors, it should have detected it. It should have recognized the
flames. But, the question is was there actually one there? We can't see any evidence of it. I mean, we have
photos of that area of the ceiling where it should be, but it's pretty like soot-covered and fire-damaged in that
hallway. But, Dayall, the fire expert, said that he would still expect to see some kind of like circular impression or
melted plastic. >> of evidence that it had been there. >> Yeah, he expects to see that in the
photos. Know what he did point to, though? Two AA Kidde branded batteries found laying on the floor
near the kitchen. Shut up. Yeah, the fire department didn't take any photos of these. They were only in photos taken
after CFD went through. So, either by police investigators who came through after or maybe by an insurance company.
>> Mhm. Now, one of the batteries was laying in the first floor hallway, and then the
other one was in the first floor bathroom. And they're not just any batteries, right? They're for sure Kidde
brand. >> Clear as day. You can see Kidde written on the side. Okay. If there was a detector there, could
they have just fallen out when the alarm itself like melted? Like maybe that's why no one heard the lower level the
main level alarm go off? >> is what I'm saying. So, we even asked that. Dale said that the batteries
wouldn't just fall out like that. Like if the fire was hot enough to melt the plastic of the smoke alarm, then it was
also hot enough to melt the batteries. And the batteries just look like they have been like sitting there. There's
just there's like a layer of black soot, but they're not even like charred. They've just been through a fire, which
means someone took them out. I mean, that at least seems very possible. Because we
reached out to Kida's attorney, and they said that experts from Kida and from the
Chicago Fire Department did investigations and determined that the smoke alarms were operating properly.
But their lawsuit with Shawn is still pending, so we didn't get much more from them.
But the real question, I think, [music] is if someone took those batteries out, when, and who would have done that? And
let me answer that rhetorical question for you, because I have played this out a million ways in my head. Like scenario
one, someone like Summer took them out for some innocuous reason and never got around to replacing them. Or someone
took them out because they didn't want the alarm to go off, because they didn't want just the house to burn. They wanted
the people inside of the house to die. If it is scenario number two, I think there are three options. One, Summer
herself did this. Two, someone yet to be identified is responsible. Or three, it was Shawn. And let me walk you
through each theory and what works and what doesn't work. In theory number one, Summer herself did this. Dale said that
we have to consider what arson investigators call filicide by fire, meaning you kill your children by fire.
And as horrible as it is to even suggest maybe Summer was the one who set it. She
was the one who was home at the time. Maybe on the cusp of leaving and starting over. Like it could have seemed
insurmountable. But also so did staying. I mean she was clearly going through a hard time,
especially in the last like week or so leading up to her death. She I had to tell you this, but she had a bad fall
like a week before the fire. She hurt her hip and her knee because she like slipped in the basement or something.
There was actually this like ongoing water leak and she texted her friend Chloe and another friend that Shawn's
dad had given them money to fix this. Shawn ended up spending that money on weed instead.
So like again, like not a good situation. And then 3 days before the fire, she sent one of her friends a text
that said, quote, "A few things have been going on with me that have just made me want to let people know that I'm
thinking about them." Now what specifically those things are or were, we'll never know.
And all of those things I just mentioned, like all the things she had going on were probably compounded by her
drinking, which her sister Sarah confirmed to us that she struggled with. And we know that her alcohol levels were
super high that night. Maybe she just couldn't take it anymore and broke and thought that this was the
only way out. Every version of Summer being responsible for this, accident or otherwise, is kind of predicated on the
idea that she was drunk. But what if that wasn't the case? I mean she it had to have been drunk because
her BAC was I mean it was off the charts. >> yes, she had a high BAC. There was a lot
of alcohol that got into her system. I think what I'm saying is like what if she hadn't been drinking all
night? Okay, walk me through that then. Okay, so when When were trying to like build a timeline of Summer's last
movements, we actually found a friend of hers who may have been one of the last people to have had contact with her
before she died. And I don't know what she told us, it threw me for a bit of a loop. So this
woman's name is Cleo, and she says that she spoke to Summer on Facebook Messenger, like on a Facebook Messenger
call specifically, about an hour and a half before the fire likely started. >> Oh. Well, at that time, Cleo said that
Summer sounded totally normal to her, like not giving signs or not not inebriated at all, which like
take with a grain of salt because maybe Summer was just really good at hiding it
or Cleo just didn't notice, right? But in this call, Summer also told her about going to Oregon in the morning, which
was the first time that Cleo was hearing about this plan. So she was like surprised.
>> But that shows that she's still planning on leaving like 90 minutes before this
fire starts. Right. Summer even promised to call her from the road tomorrow. Now
that was the only standout thing in this call. Nothing else was like out of the ordinary. Summer seemed good. They hung
up. She expected to hear from her the next day. Except a half hour later, which would
have been 8:00 8:30, right about the time the fire would have started, Cleo told us that a Facebook message popped
up from Summer, and it read, "Can you call me back?" And Cleo thought it was weird, like we
just spoke. >> And kind of for a long time. >> And it's not like Summer tried calling
her back before sending that message. She just wanted Cleo to call her for some reason. But Cleo couldn't right
then. She said, "Listen, I'm at work, so like I'll give you a call back in like 10 when I get off." And true to her
word, Cleo did call back in 10 minutes, but Summer didn't answer. Cleo waited another 10 minutes, tried again, no
answer. So that's when Cleo fired off a message like be safe. And Cleo thinks that at the time she was calling back
the fire had probably already started. Okay, so 7:30 to 8-ish, she's still fully
planning the trip to Oregon. Mhm. Her friend talks to her, says she doesn't seem drunk. And right about the time the
fire started or is believed to be started, Summer sends this message to her friend that
says, "Hey, call me." Yeah, and like I don't think it makes much sense. No. So, okay.
One thing at a time. How did Summer get so drunk, like so quickly? From like this call Zero to
Yeah. Especially thinking that like And not in like >> Cleo isn't also saying like, "I heard
her drinking. She was sipping something." Like none of that is coming up. Or like like Yeah, and listen, there
is the option that she was drunk, but just like good at Like this was just like her her baseline.
>> Yeah, her baseline. Like her sister Sarah said that her tolerance was probably pretty high from like years of
drinking on and off. But she also said that Summer wouldn't get that drunk with the kids around.
Like she And that she said she had enough experience to know her limit. But here's the thing, we looked at Summer's
medical record and we found out that she was also prescribed a stimulant for weight loss, which is believed to mess
with your ability to tell how intoxicated you are. So, I don't know, maybe she'd been drinking all night like
building up to the level that she was at when the fire started. Which by the way,
we don't actually know that level exactly. We only know her level when her blood is taken at the hospital hours
later. So it might have actually been even higher. >> number that we have from the hospital is
actually in the middle of coming down. >> Yeah, but if she hadn't been drinking like all night then like then there's Is
there a world where she started drinking like right after Cleo called her or like
a little bit before? >> Mhm. And if you do the calculations there, if like all of this was in like a
truncated time to reach a BAC of .312 and thinking that Summer's drinking like whiskey, which was her drink of choice,
she would have had to have about 10 full shots in an hour. So, she basically would have had to hang up with Cleo,
just like knock them back one after the other. [clears throat] And I don't know,
it's it seems like not that she couldn't have even like hidden it or whatever, but a little bit of like a different
state of mind. >> cuz she's like planning this trip. She's talking to Cleo while she's doing it.
>> know. Now, I want to give you the big caveat to all of this. Cleo did not show
us evidence of these calls or messages directly. She just told us about them. Now, she also told Summer's mom, Maria,
about like this exact same information just a week or two after the fire back in like March of 2023. So, like the
information, it's actually just coming forward for us. It came forward back then. It's the same info.
But, we like wanted to corroborate it, right? So, we asked to see the messages on Facebook ourselves, but she said
she'd been locked out of her account. She couldn't provide them. So, our reporter, Jenna Bell, put her in contact
with someone at Meta who might have been able to help unlock the account. I know
that Cleo took some steps to do that, but then she just stopped responding to us.
Okay. Can't we get verification from Summer's side of things? Like this was through
Facebook, so what about Summer's Facebook? >> So, Amber, that's Summer's sister-in-law, she says that by the time
they like learned of this, Summer's Facebook had been put into legacy status, which happens after someone
dies, and then no one can access the messages. I mean, police probably could subpoena
it if they wanted to dig deeper. So, if this is this interaction is true, like what do you think that the call me
back message meant? I mean, first there is a world where it means nothing, and the timing is just wildly unfortunate.
Maybe she forgot to tell her something, right? If it's a scenario where this is like purposeful at the hands of Summer,
maybe she's like reaching out for help to like the last person she spoke with. If it was done by someone else, maybe
Summer was looking for help in a way that didn't seem to someone else that she was like looking for help, right?
Like the way that like you get out of a bad day, like hey. >> me by this time or whatever.
>> like get me out of this. It's like make up an emergency or whatever. >> Mhm. Which brings me to theory number
two. Was >> this someone else? Was someone else there? Maybe someone came over and
Summer felt unsafe or annoyed or something. Like not enough to call police, but enough to be like girl, call
me so I can have an excuse to make this person leave. The problem with this theory is that the lack of investigation
makes this almost impossible to prove or disprove at this point. Based on what I've been able to see, there was no
canvas of the neighborhood to look for security footage that might show someone coming or going from Summer's house
before the fire started. That same footage would also show if no one did, which would help a lot, too.
>> Right, the footage regardless what it shows would would be some answer. >> But we got nothing. They never collected
any phone records. They never mapped out a timeline of her evening. Oh, and you know what I would have loved if they had
done? Collected and tested the Kidde batteries for fingerprints. Like You know what? Forget collecting
test. The city didn't even document these in their report. We And we asked Dale, like could these have yielded
anything, right? Or like if we had them, like what would they even mean? >> Yeah, maybe that's why they didn't.
Maybe the fire would have damaged everything. >> Yeah. No. Dale said that if there was a
fingerprint left on the batteries that the smoke would have actually preserved the fingerprint. So, a fingerprint is
left because we secrete oils and the smoke would have like coated those oils. >> have given you So, we have potentially,
yeah, lost a crucial piece of evidence here. And if it wasn't summer, I mean the suspect pool is
endless cuz they didn't really dig into her life or the neighborhood. Like it it
could be anyone. This is Chicago. This isn't a tiny town. This could be anyone. >> anyone. But they barely looked at one
someone. And statistically, this one someone posed the biggest threat to her as she
was about to leave. So that brings me to theory number three. Sean. But Sean's on duty when the fire
started. And even if it was this like boiling pot of oil that you can set and leave and walk away from before it
starts, he is at work all day before the fire starts. Yes. But You know Crime Junkie life rule number
13. Always go a layer deeper. >> Right. But don't think that's an easy task because after
months of back and forth with lawyers, we came this close to filing a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department
for refusing to release the records we requested. I mean it got so bad I started to wonder what they were so
afraid we might see. Which of course only made me push that much harder to break through the red and blue line.
Sean told detectives when he was interviewed back in 2023 that on March 7th he left for work at quarter to 6:00
in the morning arriving for his shift at the firehouse at about 6:00 a.m. He said
that he was assigned as the cook for the firehouse that day. So he left the station at 8:00 a.m. to go to a grocery
store called Jerry's Fruit and Garden and then to another place called Tony's, both in a village named Niles. And how
far are these grocery stores from the house? They're like 10 miles apart in total. Like pretty far in the opposite
direction from his house. >> Okay. But Sean never specifies when he gets back to the firehouse.
And surely the detectives got a firm time for when others saw Shawn get back to the firehouse.
>> the only work that they did was confirming his alibi. Nope. All the other firefighters say something to the
effect of like Shawn got back a short time later. So, he says he spends the rest of the day cooking and doing drills
with his crew until he hears this call come over the radio about the fire at 9:00 p.m. The battalion chief and all of
the firefighters on duty that day back up Shawn's story. And each statement is almost identical. Same beats, same
times. It's actually not surprising though. So, Dale said that if firefighters have to
give statements, they basically just like read off the call log and make sure everyone's saying the same thing. The
detective says in his notes that he collected surveillance video from one of the grocery stores that aligns with what
everyone is saying. The footage was from Jerry's Fruit and Garden and his report
says that the footage shows Shawn the morning of the fire going into the store at 8:29 a.m. and then leaving with
groceries at 8:47 a.m. Now, this video wasn't included with our initial records request.
And we wanted to see it for ourselves because like honestly the thing that we were looking at is like the tiniest typo
in this account would have huge consequences. If we're talking a.m. this is no big
deal, right? But if God forbid someone got it wrong and he went shopping at around 8:30 p.m. It would change
everything. >> why we had to be sure. Especially when Summer's mom Maria told us something
wild. She said that after the fire she got a lawyer to potentially pursue a wrongful death suit against Shawn. She
ended up dropping it just out of like sheer emotional exhaustion, but she told us that her lawyer spoke to an insurance
investigator and was told that Shawn went to a different grocery store in the evening. What? Yeah, and knowing how
important that is, Maria asked the lead CPD investigator, who's like, "Oh, no, no, no, no, it was the morning." So,
then she goes back, followed up with her lawyer, and the lawyer doubled down. He's like, "No, this was the evening."
Now, we tried to reach this lawyer for comment or to like get this story from the horse's mouth, right? But he didn't
return our calls or messages. So, we made getting this video and seeing it for ourselves like our whole
mission. [laughter] Our reporter Jen Foia'd the Chicago police for this video, and then waited,
and then waited. And like, by law, they're supposed to respond within a specific time frame.
>> Yeah. So, when they were like more than a month delinquent, she looped in our
legal counsel, and we contacted CPD and were like, "Hey, like, what's the deal, guys? Like, are you going to give us
this video or what?" And they're like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. Here you go." And Britt, they sent us three videos
that were completely blurred out. Like, I mean, you couldn't see the date, you couldn't see the timestamp, you couldn't
tell what grocery store this was, like time, date, like or critically, who was in the video.
So, we went back and forth three times, and each time they would like send us the video again with like fewer things
blurred. But even after like version two or three, we were like still getting videos where the person that they say is
Shawn was blurred. And CPD were like, "Oh, you know, we're doing this because we're concerned about the person, like
the person in the video, their right to privacy." And we're like, "No, yeah, for
sure, but like CPD already named Shawn in the police report that you made public to us, so"
we had to like ask for an official review by the office of the Illinois Attorney General. And then, fourth
time's a charm, I guess. Nearly 5 months into our legal back and forth, We won. We got the videos totally unredacted.
And I don't know, I was convinced there was going to be some big bombshell on it.
But it shows exactly what the police report said. There is a person in a Chicago fire uniform who looks a lot
like Shawn in the grocery store on March 7th, 2023 in the morning. And even if the timestamp was wrong for whatever
reason, I mean, you can clearly see daylight coming through the windows. So, I have no idea why it was so
difficult to get this video unredacted. It's either the red tape that burns a hole through our tax dollars or maybe
they were afraid that it would shine an even bigger light on the fact that the rules weren't being followed.
And what could that imply? Apparently, leaving a post is actually against CFD's mandate unless there is an emergency
callout. I mean, it is black and white. But a fellow Chicago firefighter told police, as documented in their reports,
that it was totally normal for a person on cook duty to leave the station, go buy groceries. So, the question is like,
are they covering for him or are they just like way too loose with the rules over at CFD? The same can be asked about
this whole investigation and why CFD and CPD even had it in the first place. I mean, this when you think about it, like
take a step back, for them to be investigating this is a huge conflict of interest.
>> Oh. Yeah. According to Illinois' own policy, the city of Chicago should have called in a state fire marshal to do
this investigation right away because it checked not one, not two, but three boxes on the response criteria. The fire
involved a death or serious injury, check. >> Mhm. Local authorities can't determine
the cause or origin of the fire, check. Or would otherwise be a conflict of interest for the local agency
investigating. Big check. Big check. John was an active Chicago firefighter. I mean, you don't have to be a stickler
for the rules to see how a fire department might have trouble remaining unbiased when investigating one of their
own. So, there should have been some independent agency in charge here. Dale says it should have been either the
Illinois fire marshal or the ATF, which is like a federal bureau that sometimes investigates arson cases.
>> But none of that happened. No. The only investigations that were done here were
by the city fire and police. And we reached out to CFD and asked them why this didn't happen, and they had no
comment. I'm sorry. To me, it's still a conflict of interest across the board. And on like with the protection order,
like they drove him to this place where he's not even supposed to be, right? Well, so okay, quickly with the
protection order. So, when he got arrested back in 2022 and she got the order against him, right? So, yeah, they
they know about it. They're driving him there. There was an internal affairs investigation on Sean.
That inquiry was like completely closed before all of this. And when they like looked into it, his department, they
basically said they agree that his conduct and all that like was wasn't a good look for CFD.
But it doesn't say that any disciplinary action was taken. And to go back to your
thing about conflict, I still think there's a conflict of interest, but I don't think like this is an example of
it cuz the protection order that they knew about, and it's the only one, that allowed Sean to be on the property
whenever he wanted unless he was intoxicated, which he just came from work, he's not.
>> him the whole time, right? >> Right. So, it wasn't a violation or anything for the chief to drive him
there the night of the fire. >> Okay. And he was also allowed contact with Summer as long as it wasn't
unlawful. So, he's allowed to be there, he's allowed to show up. I mean, technically he's
even allowed to give Summer CPR, which he did. >> I kind of forgot that happened.
>> Yeah, so not not a violation of the order, but it like I don't know, it might be an ethical issue, right? I
mean, especially like when you think about contamination and like he's the husband.
We asked CFD if they like knew like officially knew about the protection order and what they thought of it and
they said no comment. Oh, but get this. Speaking of Shawn giving Summer CPR, Dale looked at Summer's autopsy and
found that she had a fractured sternum and four broken ribs and he says, "That's not right if you're doing CPR
correctly." >> Mhm. It is a possible sign of excessive force. Now, Shawn is a trained EMT. He
knew how to do CPR correctly. >> Yeah. Now, Dale said, "Maybe the emotion of the situation might have gotten to
him. Maybe he didn't realize how hard he was pushing on her chest or maybe it was
something more." Okay, but to believe both of these agencies are protecting a guy with an
active order of protection against him for abusing his wife, that's a stretch, right? It happened
before. We found an October 2020 article from CBS News Chicago about a Chicago firefighter who left his station and
according to him, accidentally ran over his wife and killed her. And then his crew lied about him leaving and then
someone changed the time card illegally to cover it up. >> What? Yeah, and get this. CBS reporter
Dana Kozlov, who broke this story, confirmed with us that the firefighter who ran over his wife worked at Engine
91. And Shawn actually worked at that same firehouse before. It's not the one he was at the day of the fire. That was
Engine 119. But according to the internal affairs report, Engine 91 is where he was working back in January of
2022. Now, we tried to get confirmation from Chicago Fire on whether he was fully transferred to another engine
station whatever or if he was just like visiting that station for duty on that day, but the personnel records that we
asked for are still pending. So, all of that to say is there is a precedent for the most wild theory here. And though we
can't prove that someone else was involved in the fire, I think I've proven today that this needs another
investigation. >> Oh, definitely. >> An agency without conflict should step in and use subpoena power to get phone
records. I mean, we know there were a number of insurance investigations done. There needs to be some subpoena power to
get that data. I mean, I would want to know if Shon and Summer spoke that day on the phone. Or what Summer was doing
on her phone the day of the fire. I would want to know if there's video footage from [music] the neighborhood or
the fire station itself. All of this could be answered and put to bed with a proper police investigation. We reached
out to the Chicago Police Department and Cook County State's Attorney's Office for comment and as of this recording,
both agencies have not replied. And of course, we tried to ask Shon himself what he has to say about all of this.
And though he had no comment on some other things earlier, he did write something back that I'm going to have
you read, Brett. He wrote back, quote, "I don't want to interview. Personally, I don't think it would help
change the minds of the people accusing me. I do hope that they find closure. If
opening up the case and reinvestigating gives them that opportunity, then it is worth it.
I miss my family every day. I regret. I think about things that could have done differently. I cry a lot.
This whole situation is bad. I wish I had the power to change it. I can't though.
All I can do is to keep working on myself." We put all the hard questions to Shon in
an email. We asked if he ever abused his wife or his children, where he was the evening of March 7th, and just like
point-blank asked him if he set the fire or asked someone else to set the fire, and he declined to address any of those.
Instead, he said, quote, "If someone keeps picking at a wound, will it ever heal?"
As of this recording, Walter Sean Stewart has not been implicated in any misconduct or charged with any crime in
the deaths of Summer Day or his children. Last we heard, Sean is on extended leave
from the Chicago Fire Department. We were told hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for him by the fire
department before Summer's family asked them to shut down the online donations, which they did. Now, we weren't able to
get an exact figure, but Summer's sister-in-law told us that CFD raised almost half a million dollars. Although,
we can't confirm the money actually made it to Sean. We also don't know if Sean received any
insurance claim payouts. As of now, Sean still owns the home on Rutherford Avenue. No matter what actually happened
the night of the fire, this family deserved more. Summer, who was a great friend and who
loved her kids so much. Autumn, who had a zillion stuffed animals and called them all her babies.
Ezra, who really liked to look at leaves in the park. And Emery, who was just a little bubbly baby boy.
They all deserved more from the people who are supposed to protect and serve. Their dad included. It breaks my heart
that just as Summer was about to do the hardest thing imaginable, to leave the man she claimed abused her, her house,
her life, and her children's lives, their futures, all went up in smoke. We asked [music] Maria, Summer's mom, if
she had any final words that she wanted us to close out this episode with. And this is what she wrote to us.
God saw everything, and God can read the heart. I believe I will see Summer and the kids
again in the resurrection, >> [music] >> and they will be alive and safe and healthy then. But in the meantime, I
miss them so much, too much. There are days when I cannot function, [music] when I don't even leave my apartment.
There are days when I just cry on and off through the day. It is said that time heals all wounds.
That is not true. The more time that goes by, the more I miss them. If you have any information about the
deaths of Summer Day, Autumn Day Stewart, Ezra Day Stewart, and Emery Day Stewart, please contact us
tips@audiochuck.com. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website
crimejunkie.com. >> And you can follow us on Instagram at crimejunkiepodcast. We'll be back next
week with a brand new episode.

On the night of March 7, 2023, a devastating house fire tore through a home on North Rutherford Avenue in the Montclare neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Inside were 36-year-old Summer Day and her three children, Autumn Day-Stewart (9), Ezra Day-Stewart (7), and Emory Day-Stewart (2). None survived.

The tragedy shocked the city, especially because Summer’s husband, Chicago Firefighter Walter Sean Stewart, was on duty at the time, responding to emergencies across the city when the call came in for his own address. The Chicago Fire Department and Chicago Police quickly concluded the fire was non-criminal, listing the cause as undetermined and closing the case within months.

But from the very beginning, questions lingered. In this episode, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat take listeners deep inside the investigation and the records that were never meant to be closely examined. Through police reports, fire investigation files, medical findings, video evidence, and interviews with Summer’s family, Crime Junkie uncovers troubling inconsistencies surrounding the fire’s origin, missing evidence, disabled smoke alarms, and a lack of independent oversight. The episode also reveals previously unheard details about Summer’s life in the months before her death, including her plans to leave Chicago with her children the very next day, documented allegations of long-term abuse, an active order of protection, and disturbing recordings Summer made to document what she said was happening inside her home.

Why was no outside agency brought in to investigate a fatal fire involving an active Chicago firefighter? Why were critical electronic records and neighborhood footage never collected? And why were certain forensic questions never answered at all?

Three years later, the deaths of Summer Day, Autumn, Ezra, and Emory remain officially classified as non-criminal, but the evidence tells a far more complicated story.

If you have any information on the deaths of Summer Day, Autumn Day-Stewart, Ezra Day-Stewart, and Emory Day-Stewart, please contact us at tips@audiochuck.com.

-------- Key Episode Moments: 0:00 - 1:10 - Case Intro 1:11 - 4:18 - Chicago House Fire 4:19 - 6:35 - Kitchen Fire Origin 6:36 - 9:31 - Sean Stewart’s Alibi 9:32 - 11:17 - Autopsy Findings 11:18 - 13:41 - Tipster Email 13:42 - 15:14 - Summer Planned to Leave 15:15 - 21:29 - Abuse Allegations 21:30 - 28:55 - Dropped Charges & Motive Questions 28:56 - 33:46 - Independent Fire Expert Review 33:47 - 39:22 - Smoke Alarms & Missing Batteries 39:23 - 41:55 - Theory #1: Summer 41:56 - 49:59 - Theory #2: Unknown Intruder 50:00 - 1:00:20 - Theory #3: Sean Stewart 1:00:21 - 1:01:42 - Conflict of Interest Concerns 1:01:43 - 1:05:15 - Sean’s Response & Aftermath 1:05:16 - 1:05:45 - Outro

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About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

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