SUMTER, S.C. (WACH) -- Funeral services for two Sumter children killed in an apartment fire were held Thursday.
Hundreds of friends and family gathered at the Greater Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church to pay their final respects to 10-year-old Aalyiah Jackson and her 11-year old brother Robert.
The children died last weekend several days after being injured in the fire.
Police say the mother's boyfriend Timothy Dingle, 52, intentionally set the blaze after an argument. Earlier this week Dingle was charged with two counts of murder.
Neighbor Eva Hodge knew the children well and is still in disbelief.
“I think a lot of the people here are just still in shock because they had high hopes that these two children would come home” said Hodge.
Authorities say the children were at home alone when emergency officials responded to last week's fire.
Timothy Dingle is being held at the Sumter-Lee Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.
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