Police visited CdA house night before deadly fire

Stuffed animals continued to pile up Friday in front of the Coeur d’Alene home where 13-month-old Kylla Pahl suffered deadly burns over most of her body Wednesday.

As the memorial has grown, so have the questions about how the little girl, who tested positive for meth at birth, fell through the cracks.

According to Coeur d’Alene police call logs, a Post Falls woman called police less than 24 hours before Kylla’s death to report there was an outstanding arrest warrant for her father, Kelley Pahl.

The woman told police Kelley Pahl often used methamphetamine, that there may be weapons in the home and that there were two children there. She also said Kylla Pahl’s mother, 26-year-old Megan Longoria, had attempted suicide two days earlier.

Though police responded to 1009 C St. on Tuesday evening to arrest Kelley Pahl, officers took no report. There’s no record of any inquiry into the well-being of Longoria or the children, according to police.

“Sometimes (911) call-taker comments don’t get relayed to the officer,” Coeur d’Alene police Sgt. Christie Wood said. “What was dispatched? I don’t know.”

Even if the information was relayed to the officer, Wood said that “just because it’s told to the officer, that’s not what they’re responding to. It’s just, ‘Here’s some additional information.’ “

Other than the call log, Wood said police had no information regarding a suicide attempt by Longoria.

Kylla was alone inside the family’s home when a floral arrangement near an unattended candle caught fire around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. Police said the girl’s mother and an unidentified man were in a vehicle behind the house when the fire broke out.

Police have refused to disclose what Longoria and the man were doing in the vehicle or how long the girl was unattended in the house.

According to court records, Kylla was removed from Longoria’s custody the day she was born after they both tested positive for meth. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare returned the girl to her mother when she was about four months old.

A Health and Welfare spokesman said the law prohibits the agency from commenting, but there have been no complaints about the household.

Police received four calls from the home or about the home since last July. But at no time did the department contact Health and Welfare or Child Protective Services with concerns, Wood said.

Kelley Pahl and Longoria both called police on July 1, 2005. Kelley Pahl called around 9:30 p.m. from a nearby grocery store. He said there was a man at the home making threats. About an hour later, Longoria called police and said the man was back and threatened Pahl, who then got on the phone and said the man might have a gun.

No police reports were taken in response to either call.

Pahl’s ex-wife, Mary Pahl, called police the next day. She told police that one of Kelley Pahl’s neighbors had told her there “were gunshots and possibly people being detained” at the residence. Mary Pahl said she was concerned for her son, who was at the home at the time, and she asked whether she could go get her child.

About three months later, Coeur d’Alene police responded to the home to arrest a friend of Kelley Pahl’s who was wanted on a warrant by Post Falls police. Officers then obtained a warrant to search the home based on suspicion that they would find drugs. According to court records, they found numerous syringes and methamphetamine.

Longoria was home at the time with two children. The Sept. 28, 2005, incident happened as Longoria was facing charges of injury to a child for using meth while pregnant with Kylla.

Two months later, the Coeur d’Alene city prosecutor’s office dismissed its case against Longoria based on recommendations from the state Health and Welfare department.

Earlier this month, Mary Pahl again called authorities to say she was concerned for her child, who again was staying with his father. She said their 9-year-old son was at the beach with a friend and that Kelley Pahl was at the home, passed out. Mary Pahl told police that her ex-husband was intoxicated and uses meth.

Health and Welfare officials were not contacted as a result of any of these instances.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said Thursday that his office was waiting for police to complete their investigation before determining whether criminal charges would be filed.

Longoria went to Seattle when Kylla was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center. Kelley Pahl, arrested Tuesday on a warrant for drug charges out of Spokane, was released from jail to deal with his daughter’s death.

“The mother – there are no criminal charges that have been filed against her,” Wood said. “We have no legal authority to direct what she’s doing right now.”