A Warren family still trying to cope after an arson fire claimed the life of high school student Chassidy Broadstone is warning others not to be scammed by some fundraisers posted on Go-Fund-Me.

One year after that fatal arson, someone started using a photo of the house where Chassidy was killed to try and raise money for themselves.

The house on Nevada Street in Warren which has been torn down since the January 19, 2023, fire, is where 16-year-old Chassidy Broadstone was trapped and murdered after arsonist poured fuel around the home and set it ablaze.

Now adding to their pain someone has been using a picture of that house to solicit money on GoFundMe.

 

Chassidy's father Roger Broadstone was in shock someone would use the murder of his daughter and the serious injury of his younger daughter for their gain.

“Just seeing it brought everything back in an instant,” Broadstone told 21 News in an exclusive interview.

The person posted a possibly false name with the following message: "Me and my 4 kids lost everything we had in a house fire anything is appreciated we will be living in our car that is all we have left anything will help us.”

Roger Broadstone tells us he never solicited any money from any site.

His younger daughter Laila Broadstone was also trapped in that inferno and had to jump from the second-story window to survive. She broke 8 vertebrae, her shoulder, hip, and femur. A prosthetic leg she had from a previous incident burned in the fire.

“The only people in that house were me and my sister, not them,” said Laila, who must now use a wheelchair to move about.

Relatives of the family posted a message on Facebook asking people not to donate to that fundraiser.

Sheri Lewis, who tells 21 News she feels like a stepmother to Leila, reported the account as fraudulent.

 “Now when you go on there to look up that particular account, you can't even find it on GoFundMe,” said Lewis. “I’m hoping they removed it and they’re really looking into the situation.”

21 News received the following statement from GoFundMe on Tuesday:

GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform. The fundraiser was removed and the organizer has been banned from using the GoFundMe platform for any future fundraisers.

The fundraiser did not receive any donations, and in the very rare case that funds are misused, donors are protected through the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.