Mother and son die after Van Zandt County fire, raising family toll to five

What happened to the two people reported critically injured after the fire near Canton? Both died later that Wednesday, October 21, at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. They were 27-year-old Jasmine Henson and her son Robert Mitchell. Their deaths brought the loss in one family to five: a mother and four of her children. ^{3 2}

In our October 21 broadcast, we reported that three children had died and a woman and boy were hospitalized in critical condition. That was the early medical picture, also reported by FOX 4 that morning—not the final outcome. Subsequent reporting established the hospitalized woman’s identity, her relationship to the children and the deaths of both patients. CBS News reported on October 23 that the children’s father and a fifth child were recovering. ^{1 2}

Relatives identified the children who died as Robert Mitchell, Troy Mitchell, Levi Mitchell and Avril Mitchell. Three died at the home: boys aged eight and five, and a three-year-old girl. The reporting does not reliably establish which name belongs to each of those three age descriptions. Robert was the fourth child firefighters found inside and the one who later died in hospital. ^{2 4}

Henson’s husband and their seven-year-old son escaped on their own with minor injuries, according to FOX 4. The children’s paternal grandfather, Mike Mitchell, told CBS News that the father and surviving child were recovering. That is a broad update, not a detailed account of their treatment or prognosis. Their names are not verified in the reporting available here. ^{3 2}

One biographical detail remains inconsistent. KLTV’s October 21 account described the hospitalized boy as ten; CBS News’s October 23 report described him as nine. The Dallas Morning News attributed Robert’s age of nine to the Dallas County medical examiner and noted that the fire marshal had earlier given ten. FOX 4’s October 22 account still called him ten and said he would have turned eleven the next day. Those accounts cannot be reconciled here, so the birthday claim should not be treated as established. ^{4 2 28 3}

The fire was near County Roads 4127 and 4128 in Van Zandt County, in the Canton area. The reporting does not establish that the property was within Canton city limits. Fire Marshal Kevin Palmer told KLTV that crews were dispatched shortly after 12:30 a.m. on October 21 to a structure fire with people reported trapped. That is a dispatch time, not a verified time of ignition. ^{3 4}

Departments from Canton, South Van Zandt, Ben Wheeler and Wills Point responded. Palmer said three people had escaped before crews arrived, while four children remained inside. Fire conditions forced firefighters to breach an exterior wall, and they quickly located the children. ⁴

A more detailed account from South Van Zandt Volunteer Fire Department Battalion Chief Jason Foster describes what rescuers encountered. The mobile home was already about half involved in fire when Canton firefighters arrived, he told KLTV. The heaviest fire was toward the middle and right; the children were found on the left, in the bedroom area where they had been reported. Foster and his crew had been called as backup. ⁴

Foster said trees prevented access from one position and a window was partly boarded. Crews cut through the exterior wall on the left side and brought the children out there. As he approached to help search, a child was handed out to him, and rescuers immediately began CPR. His account establishes that resuscitation was attempted, not that it restored a heartbeat. ⁴

Three children had already died. The fourth went first to a local emergency room and was then airlifted to another hospital. A second victim was airlifted directly from the scene, and two other people were taken by ambulance as a precaution. The response account does not identify every person in every transport. Nor does the initial count of three escapees provide a complete sequence of who got out, by which route or when. ⁴

Foster said the fire was controlled in about 20 minutes, although the account does not define when that interval began. He has been a firefighter for 28 years. “Unfortunately, not my first time in a situation like this. But they never get any easier,” he told KLTV. ⁴

The new detail helps explain how firefighters reached the children. It does not explain why the children could not escape. Trees and a partly boarded window were obstacles Foster described in the rescuers’ approach; those observations alone do not establish that a building condition caused a death or that an exit violated a code.

Foster also offered a tentative impression that the fire appeared to have started somewhere around the front door. That is not a final determination of origin, and it identifies no ignition source. The Fire Marshal’s Office has described its investigation as being in its early stages, with more information expected later but no dated release commitment. No verified final finding establishes the cause or whether smoke alarms were present, working or sounded. ^{4 5}

Those remain the central unanswered questions from our earlier report. The hospitalized patients’ outcomes and the family relationships are now known. The cause, alarm status and full escape sequence are not. The distinction matters: a clearer description of a rescue is not, by itself, an explanation of the fire.

Several of the children attended Canton Elementary and Canton Intermediate schools. Canton ISD announced that counselors and support staff would be available on campus in the coming days for students, staff and families affected by the deaths. The announcement did not establish specific counseling hours or appointment arrangements. ^{4 3}

Relatives and neighbors are also organizing practical assistance. FOX 4 reported a meal train, a GoFundMe and a “Henson Family Donation Account” at Broadstreet Bank. CBS19 reported clothing collections in Canton and Mineola. ^{3 39}

A benefit barbecue was announced for the weekend at 450 West Kansas Street in Van, Texas. The homeowner said it would continue while food remained available. The available announcement does not establish an exact calendar date or starting time. Henson’s sister, Brooke Henson, told FOX 4 the family was not ready to comment publicly and described the loss as “terrible.” ³

For the father and son who survived, that help addresses immediate needs after the deaths of five members of their family. Explaining what happened inside the home—and why four children could not get out—remains the investigators’ unfinished task.