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Community mourns young mother killed in Waterford Township apartment fire

Authorities investigating cause of fire in third floor apartment

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Friends and family of 23-year-old Brionna Johnson come together at the same place where the young mother died.

Johnson was an aspiring nurse and died in a fire that broke out in her third floor apartment Saturday morning in Waterford Township. Her 2-year-old son, Josiah, was with his father when the building set ablaze.

READ: 23-year-old aspiring nurse and mother dies in Waterford Township apartment complex fire

“She was just a sweetheart, a great person, an angel. If you needed her, she was there,” said Johnson’s sister Tykira Baugh. “Words can’t even begin to express the mother that she was to her son. He was like the light through her tunnel.”

The devastation has taken a major toll on her mother, Tammy Gibson.

“I feel empty inside now ... I have that void and it’s like nothing will ever be able to fill it. It’s a hole here,” Gibson said. “I feel like it will never get better. It feels like I’m going to have this everlasting pain that’s going to be there.”

In an emotional moment, Johnson’s son, Josiah, placed a candle down for his mother.

“We’re going to continue to uplift her spirit and make sure he (Josiah) never forgets his mother. She’s always going to be watching over him and we’re always going to be there 100%,” Baugh said.

Fire officials are still investigating the cause.

The family has set up a GoFundMe account. Click here if you’d like to donate.

MORE: Oakland County news


About the Author
Victor Williams headshot

Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.

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