Standing behind five small caskets Saturday, the Rev. William H. Curtis asked mourners not to let last week’s fatal fire in Larimer divide the community. “Five little angels died,” Curtis told about 1,500 people who gathered inside Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in Larimer. “Who cares how it happened or why it happened• … You don’t let five kids slip out of here and think God’s trying to tell you something. “Here’s what those angels are asking you to do: Try a more excellent way.” Three of the caskets were decorated with stuffed animals and oversized, toy alphabet blocks. Inside the five — two white, two pink and one pale blue — lay the victims of the fire Tuesday at 6429 Winslow St.: Dezekiah Holyfield, 3; Cedano Holyfield, 4; Daekia Holyfield, 7; Azequel Rankin, 5; and Andre Rankin, 6. Curtis said the children’s lives won’t be wasted if those at the funeral create new lives by changing the way they think and act. Those in attendance nodded their heads and hollered “Come on!” and “Preach to me!” as Curtis spoke. Pittsburgh police said no adults were in the home when children playing with matches sparked the 1:23 a.m. fire. Two 8-year-old boys — Javon Irwin, brother of the Holyfield children, and Huedon Chambliss, brother of the Rankin boys — escaped the fire unharmed. Shakita Marie Mangham, 25, the mother of the Holyfield children, and Furaha “T” Love, 25, the mother of the Rankin children, told investigators a baby sitter was there that night, police said. Mangham identified the sitter to police as a 17-year-old named LaShawn Smith or Smithfield who lives nearby. But detectives said they have received dozens of calls from people in the neighborhood saying the girl doesn’t exist. Police have said any criminal charges, if warranted, would take place sometime after the funeral. The children’s parents did not speak yesterday. Some relatives said they appreciated Curtis’ eulogy after a burial ceremony, at Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville, that included the release of doves. “His words were very appropriate,” said Charles King Jr., 19, a cousin of the Holyfields, who lives in Monroeville. “It was very motivational. The whole point of a funeral is to turn it into something positive.” Amber Epps, a friend of the children’s parents, said emphasizing the insignificance of blame in the fire was the most important part of Curtis’ remarks. “That was good,” Epps, 27, of Penn Hills, said as her eyes filled with tears. “He touched everybody.” Some people at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church wore white T-shirts emblazoned with photographs of the children. Church officials distributed brief obituaries of the children that included snapshots of their personalities:

Daekia Holyfield “loved to eat hot Cheetos and chicken.” Cedano Holyfield “was his own little man and you could not make him do anything he didn’t want to do!” Dezekiah Holyfield “watched cartoons and soap operas with her Mommy.” Andre Rankin won a school citizenship award last month. Azequel Rankin “loved apples and would do almost anything for one!”

Another Holyfield cousin, Alonzo Holyfield, 24, of North Braddock, kept repeating how sad the children’s deaths were while holding his son, Alonzo Jr., at the cemetery. “My kid is in their age range,” he said. “They were so young.”

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