Man In Custody After Deadly South Chicago Fire Has Criminal History

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A deadly fire claimed the lives of four people early Monday morning, three of them children. While no one has been charged with the crime, Latoya Terry is among the first to claim she knows what happened, and who may be responsible.

"I live here. The incident had something to do between me and the guy. He said I owed him $10. I told him I didn't owe him anything," she tells CBS2's Dorothy Tucker.

Their disagreement was reportedly a dispute over loose cigarettes. Terry says after refusing to pay, she closed the door on the man's face.

"Never did I think he was intending on setting anything on fire. Everybody know him on the block," she added.

In fact, the man in question lives just two blocks away.

"So many times he's just walking down the street, drinking and smoking, being rude to people, being really loud," neighborhood resident Nina Bradley said.

CBS2 has learned that the man's neighbors say he may be connected to the fire and has a criminal background. It dates back to the late 1980s and includes felony convictions in Cook and DuPage counties on drugs, weapons, assault and domestic violence. That same man is also in police custody, according to the man's  brother. The man's brother said he turned himself into police.

He added his brother turning himself into police is proof he's not involved.

"If you do a crime and you know that you did something wrong, I'm quite sure you're not going to walk up to the police and just say 'I'm here.'"

Relatives say the man is still being questioned.