‘He loved, he loved big’: Families mourn 3 children killed in Kansas City house fire

For Chace Freeman, every day was April Fools’ Day.

He pulled elaborate pranks when blessed with a partner in crime but would settle for simply squirting family members with his water gun when he had an urge to mess with them.

Once, his stepmother, Amanda Jantz, helped him trick his father, Michael Freeman, into believing their kitchen was flooding. Freeman freaked out, running from the garage to the kitchen. When Chace and Jantz saw his reaction they couldn’t contain themselves, bursting into laughter.

“His laugh was unique,” Jantz said. “It was just all over the place. It was never the same laugh.”

Still, Freeman added, “You could tell it was him.”

Chace, 10, died July 14 following a house fire in the 7200 block of North Avalon Street, just down the street from where Freeman and Jantz live. He was staying at his mother’s and her boyfriend’s house when the flames broke out. The boyfriend’s children, Achilles Hardy, 4, and Maxwell Hardy, 3, were also there and died as a result of the fire.

Jantz and Freeman were in their backyard the day it happened. They heard the frantic screaming of a neighbor who told them there was a house on fire. When they realized it was Chace inside, Freeman sprinted toward it.

Even with the smoke and flames, the safety of his child was the only thing on his mind. His neighbors had to restrain him to keep him from running blindly inside.

“Sitting there knowing that your son’s inside and you can’t do nothing, you can’t reach him, you know, heartbreak,” Freeman said. “I can’t do nothing, just watch it go in flames.”

He saw firefighters pulling out his son from the house, and he was “lifeless” Freeman described. Chace never made it to the hospital.

Chace Freeman

Sitting on the couch next to a throw pillow with Chace’s picture on it, Jantz wearing a shirt bearing his name and birth date, the couple felt they might hear Chace again any time — just get a hint of his laughter— yet they knew they wouldn’t.

Freeman, a Kansas City native, started dating Jantz, originally from McLouth, Kansas, when Chace was four. They have been living in their northwest Kansas City home for about six years. Both work for insurance companies.

Chace was shy with Jantz at the beginning. Instead of calling her name he would say “hey girl,” Jantz said. The couple got married in 2018 and by then Chace had already grown close with her.

Then, he was told he would be a big brother. At first he didn’t know how to take it, Freeman said. But as soon as he saw Hudson, now 2, he wanted to take care of him and be involved in everything, even diaper changes.

‘Heart was bigger’

A week after the accident, Jantz and Freeman sat holding Hudson in their laps, staring at a picture in which Chace is proudly holding a fish he caught. For them it was a reflection of his full-of-love life.

“He loved, he loved big,” Jantz said. “I don’t think there’s any other way to describe it. His heart was bigger than his body. His kindness was just unbelievable for such a young kid.”

One day he arrived home from school with the name tag of another kid and when the couple asked him about it Chace started crying, Jantz said. The tag was from one of his best friends who was moving to Florida.

“He was so upset,” Jantz said. “But he said ‘he let me keep his name tag, so I’d never forget him.’ And he hung it up on his wall in his bedroom.”

When Chace had a bad day in school he would open up and talk to his parents about it. He was not ashamed of showing his emotions and seeking support in hard times.

Chace spent a lot of time playing catch. Even when he had no one to play with he would throw the ball and picked it up himself. He enjoyed the game the most when his father joined him.

With only five minutes left before the school bus arrived to pick up Chace they would rush outside with a ball and played as long as they could. They were “best buddies,” Freeman said with tears in his face, and they were looking forward to Chace’s first tackle once he started playing football.

Maxwell and Achilles

Maxwell and Achilles Hardy loved each other strongly. Everything they did— no matter if it was playing with trucks, watching “Dinosaur Train” or going for walks— they had to do together, Ashley Kernes, their mother, said.

They were together at their father’s house when the fire broke out. Maxwell died from his injuries that day and Achilles was taken to the hospital. He died Monday of his injuries, said Officer Donna Drake, a Kansas City Police Department spokesperson.

Their lives were not easy but they were born fighters, Kernes said, and she is sure they fought until their last moments.

When she thinks of Maxwell and Achilles she said she sees heroes who cared for her at their short age.

“They knew every time I was not happy and they came up to me and gave me a hug,” Kernes said. “And told me everything will be okay, ‘it’s okay mama, I’m here.’”

‘We’re lost’

When his little brother Hudson grows up they will show him pictures and videos of Chace, who would play in a pool half of his size just to make him happy. They will tell him how he never sat down to eat unless his little brother was eating too. With their stories they will show Hudson how much he cared.

The family is planning to move out as soon as they can. Chace’s mother’s residence was a couple of houses away from their home. The burnt structure can be seen from their porch and catching its sight feels like a nightmare, Jantz said.

The couple said they keep waiting to see Chace riding a bike with his bright smile like he used to do with his neighborhood friends. They keep waiting for him to go over to their house and hug them and Hudson.

It has been hard to accept Chace is not coming back, Freeman said.

“We’re lost,” Freeman said. “A couple days after it all happened, we thought it was a joke. But it’s kind of sinking in that it’s not a joke anymore. This is a hole that’s got to get filled but I don’t think it’s going to get filled.”

Freeman said he will miss Chace’s laugh. Jantz said she will miss his “beautiful smile that could turn anyone’s day around.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Jason Spreitzer, spokesperson for the Kansas City Fire Department, said.