Family’s hope restored in time for Christmas following suspected arson fire

(TULSA, Okla.) One year ago, Lashay Peters made the difficult decision to move from California to Oklahoma, where she and her four children had been living in their vehicle. 

“I came out here for the better,” Peters said. “Me and my kids was in the car for two months and a half. I wanted to just give them a better life, better opportunities.”

Peters was on track, securing their own apartment for her family just six months ago. 

Then, nearing the one-year anniversary of their move, she got a terrifying phone call at work. Bullies from her 14-year-old son’s school had broken into their home and started a fire.

“While he was trying to get his little brother, the boy was still trying to fight him,” Peters said. “And so the fire just went higher and higher.” 

Dispatch received the call that someone had set the apartment on fire at 3 p.m. on December 10. The case remains under investigation. 

Peters said her 2-year-old baby and 4-year-old twins (who turn 5 on Wednesday) were there when it happened. Thankfully, no one was injured. 

Their home, however, was full of fire and smoke damage.

“His window got busted out,” Peters said. “The frame of the window got busted out. He don't have no wall right there no more. They have a board up right there. He don't have no carpet. His whole room down to the bookshelf, down to the bed. Most of my kids, most of their clothes got damaged. The black smoke was all through my house.” 

And that wasn’t the worst of it. The Meadows Apartments then issued her an eviction notice for conduct, saying they must vacate the premises by January 14. 

Distraught and out of solutions, a neighbor told Peters about Carabelle’s Legacy. 

“She had a situation with a fire too, like two years ago,” Peters said. “So I reached out to Carabelle’s. I told her my situation and she's been here ever since. She's been helping me every step of the way.” 

Carabelle’s Legacy was not only able to help the Peters with temporary housing through their own resources, but they were also able to connect the family with other community resources such as Family Promise of Tulsa County and Positive Plates. These partnerships, along with the generous donations of local community members, ensured the family was not only housed through the new year but fed and gifted in time for Christmas.

The local Dollar General even donated their own Christmas tree display to add a boost of holiday spirit. 

“I've never seen this amount with the past families that we've served and for that, I am grateful to the Tulsa Community,” Carabelle’s Legacy Founder Maria Morris said. “I will say our job is not done until this family is on solid ground, with their own housing and basic needs met. We do not want their last stop to be a hotel.” 

Other community partners such as She Brews Coffee’s Rhonda Bear, Block Builderz, and Operation Hope said they are continuing to look at ways to assist the family further. 

Peters said the support brought her to tears.

“It's a minor setback for a major come back, but God works in mysterious ways and he's going to make a way,” Peters said. “And if it's not my time to be there at that apartment, then obviously God has another plan for me and that's just how I got to look at it.” 

As for the trouble with her son’s classmates, Peters said they’re still making threats against him, including taking his life, so she told her son she can’t allow him to go back to school there. 

“It's the point that it's safety at this point,” Peters said. “'Cause I don't wanna look at you behind bars or I don't wanna have to go look at you at the hospital and see all these tubes down your throat because you wanna be somebody you're not.”

Peters said her son has also gotten into trouble at school since moving here, including out-of-school suspension, and she is considering homeschooling him if it will keep him out of trouble. 

According to the Oklahoma Policy Institute, Tulsa’s youth of color make up 27 percent of referrals to the Office of Juvenile Affairs for facility placement, despite making up just 10 percent of the population. 

The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform’s (CJJR) 2022 report Racial Disparities in Tulsa’s Youth Legal System: Findings and Recommendations for Advancing Equity conducted a series of surveys to learn more about the youth of color overrepresentation in Tulsa’s youth legal system. 

Findings included a significant number of interviewees pointing to socioeconomic factors as a central cause, including poverty at greater rates than White youth and a lack of high-quality education and employment opportunities, all of which puts them at greater risk of system involvement.

The report also found that Black students received 45 percent of out-of-school suspensions, while white youth received only 17 percent. The two groups make up nearly a quarter each of the student body in Tulsa Public Schools. 

The first goal CJJR listed to reduce disparities faced by youth of color in the Tulsa legal system was “Expand Supportive Services for Youth at High-Risk of System Involvement and Their Families”. 

With both after-fire and justice-involved support systems, Carabelle’s Legacy is now serving families touched by both. 

“As a woman of color with a justice-impacted background, I know the difficulty it is to find resources and a second chance,” Morris said. “Coupled with that, being low income, the gap widens. I feel this is an opportunity to stop the cycle before it starts. The focus of our mission is that no family has to suffer like ours did. In the lack of resources after a fire, as well as the excessive overstep of the justice system in this state.” 

Peters said her son has never been justice-involved, and she aims to keep it that way. 

She also wished the best for the family of the teen she believes started the fire. 

“I pray for that family,” Peters said. “That's all I could do. And I pray for me and mine for surely, but I pray for them that something will change.” 

To donate to the Peters family and other families impacted by fires, click here.

VNN Journalist Brittany Harlow served on Carabelle’s Legacy’s Board of Directors on a volunteer basis during 2023.