‘They were so beautiful’: Community grieves for 3 children who died in Carpentersville fire

Carpentersville community members came together Friday at an East Dundee church to remember three young children gone too soon.

Two-year-old twins Kayden and Jayden Corsello and their 1-year-old brother, Xander, died in a March 30 house fire in the 1700 block of Kingston Circle in Carpentersville.

“This is indeed a tragic event, but it’s made a little easier when a community comes together and bonds together to support each other,” the Rev. Phil Zilinski said during the funeral service at Fox Valley Baptist Church.

More than 150 people attended the service. Three sets of angel wings, flowers, stuffed animals and Easter baskets adorned the church in memory of the three boys their maternal grandfather called his “little birds.”

The maternal grandfather described the children as curious, fun-loving and smart. The twins, he said, had their own language, and he was convinced they were teaching their younger brother. They often explored kitchen cabinets and emptied the contents.

“No matter how bad my day was, coming home to them was my instant cure,” the grandfather said.

The paternal grandfather said the boys were the light of family members’ lives and told his son and the boys’ mother that they would not be alone as they grieved their loss.

“We will carry their love forward together,” he said.

Through tears, the boys’ mother, Josephine Beauchane, talked of her children, recalling a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo just days before the fire.

“Oh, my God, they were so beautiful,” she said of her young children. “I loved every single one of them with my whole heart.”

She thanked the community for its support and took special note of those who tried to save her sons from the fire.

In their obituary, she wrote that Jayden was happy and energetic and “loved to run around no matter the place or time.” Kayden “was shy but loved everyone.” She said Xander was happy and caring and would say “thank you, as he gave you everything he saw.”

“Never could we have imagined that they would get their lives taken away from them way too soon,” she wrote.

The children’s father, grandmother, the grandmother’s boyfriend and a friend of the grandmother were inside the raised ranch at the time of the fire, authorities said. Several people tried to rescue the children from the fire and suffered smoke inhalation, authorities said. One was treated at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation and could take several weeks to determine, Carpentersville Fire Chief Bill Anaszewicz said.

The fire caused $350,000 in damage to the home and its contents.

Community members have pulled together to help the surviving family members.

The village of Carpentersville will be planting three trees at Carpenter Park in memory of the boys, Village President John Skillman said.

Terrance “Duke” Seward, owner of Duke’s Blues and BBQ, is collecting funds through his Taste the Love nonprofit foundation to cover funeral expenses for the children and assist the family. The organization is working with village officials to help the family find housing.

In addition, a GoFundMe fundraising page has raised money to help the family.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250411/news/they-were-so-beautiful-community-grieves-at-funeral-for-three-children-killed-in-carpentersville/