EUREKA, IL. (THECOUNT) — The mother of Kyle Alwood, the 9-year-old boy from Illinois who has been charged with murder in connection to a deadly arson fire that wiped up most of his immediate family, is speaking out for the first time, saying the boy suffers from mental illness.

Katrina Alwood appeared on CBS This Morning on Thursday, two days after her sole surviving child, Kyle, was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, two counts of arson and one count of aggravated arson, accused of intentionally setting his family’s mobile home ablaze in April.

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The inferno near the village of Goodfield killed his two half-siblings, one-year-old Ariel and two-year-old Daemeon Wall; his cousin, Rose Alwood, aged two; Kyle’s stepfather, 34-year-old Jason Wall, and the children’s maternal great-grandmother, 69-year-old Kathryn Murray.

All five victims died of smoke inhalation inside the family’s trailer at Timberline Mobile Home Park.

The 9-year-old is to be charged with five counts of first-degree murder in connection with a lethal mobile-home fire, at the Timberline Mobile Home Park, in April near Goodfield.

The juvenile also is to be charged with two counts of arson and one count of aggravated arson, Woodford County State’s Attorney Greg Minger said.

The identity of the suspect was not revealed, given that person’s age. Minger would not reveal additional details about the suspect, including a possible relationship to the victims, reports PJStar.

Minger’s decision to prosecute came almost exactly six months following the blaze April 6 that killed two adults and three children in a residence at Timberline Mobile Home Park.

The fire at 14 Cypress Court began shortly after 11 o’clock on a Saturday night. The trailer was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived a few minutes later.

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Geo quick facts: Goodfield is a village in Tazewell and Woodford counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 860 at the 2010 census, up from 686 at the 2000 census. Goodfield is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area – Wikipedia.