Fire victims officially confirmed

Published 4:52 pm Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Officials have confirmed the names and ages of the seven persons who died in a house fire in the Gray community of Knox County last Saturday.

The confirmation was made Monday by Tpr. Shane Jacobs, public affairs officer for the Kentucky State Police in Harlan. KSP Post 10 was the main investigators of the fatal fire along with the State Police Arson Investigator and State Fire Marshall’s Office.

In addition, Knox County Coroner Mike Blevins confirmed the autopsies done on the seven who died were completed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort, and that the bodies were sent to funeral homes in Corbin and Barbourville.

Sign up for our daily email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

Jacobs said investigators were at the fire scene Monday, and that information on the autopsies should be available Tuesday.

Preliminary results from the arson investigator and the State Fire Marshall’s Office indicated no foul play, but the cause of the fire remains undetermined.

The seven who perished in the fire have been officially identified as:

* Jesse Bruce Disney, 27.

* His fiancé, Nina Nicole Asher, 22. She was 11 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

* Her three children: 3-year-old William Michael Frank Gray, Jr.; 2-year-old Camden Leigh Gray; and 10-month-old Abigail Danielle Gray.

All five were residents of the house on the corner of Sam Parker Road and Shady Brook Lane that caught fire last Saturday morning.

* 2-year-old Paiten Cox, who would have been 3 this month.

* 2-year-old Briel Cox, who had recently turned 2.

Both girls were staying at the home last Friday night with Disney, Asher and her children, and were friends of the family.

All seven were from Gray in Knox County.

The funeral arrangements for Disney were completed Monday by Hart Funeral Home in Corbin.

Visitation will be Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. in the funeral home chapel at 1011 Master Street, with the funeral Thursday at 11 a.m., also at Hart Funeral Home with Pastors Kevin Roach and David Johnson officiating. Burial will follow in the Disney Family Cemetery.

The funerals for Asher and her three children are being handled by Knox Funeral Home on Knox Street in Barbourville. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.

Donations can be made at Commercial Bank in Barbourville at 202 North Main Street, Barbourville, KY 40906, or by calling 606-546-3145.

Meanwhile, Vankirk-Grisell Funeral Home in Corbin is handling the arrangements for the funerals of Paiten Cox and Briel Cox. Funeral arrangements for the two girls are incomplete at this time.

Office manager Joan Wyatt said the funeral home is donating their services, and there would be no charge to the family.

“If people want to donate, we can accept donations and pass them along to the family,” she pointed out during a phone interview Monday.

Wyatt added the family might possibly need a headstone for the two little girls. Donations can be made at the funeral home at 607 Master Street in Corbin, during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.