ORANGE PARK, Fla. (AP) — Firefighters have burned down a northeast Florida home where 7-year-old Somer Thompson was killed in 2009.
The Orange Park Fire Department and other agencies destroyed the home in a training exercise on Thursday, as Thompson’s mother and her supporters looked on.
Thompson was killed after being lured inside the home and sexually assaulted by a man who has since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Thompson’s body was found days after her murder in a Georgia landfill.
The girl’s mother, Diena Thompson, told the Florida Times-Union (http://bit.ly/1vo6mGU ) that seeing the house burn was a cathartic experience.
Fire crews and other first responders used the burning house in a live training exercise after it was procured by the Somer Thompson Foundation.
