Toowoomba mum Ellouisa Brighton charged with murder, attempted murder

Murder charges have been laid against a Toowoomba mother who allegedly killed three of her children last week.

Police investigators at the scene of a triple-fatal house fire in Harristown, Toowoomba on Friday, May 9. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Murder charges have been laid against a Toowoomba mother who allegedly killed three of her children in a house fire last week.

Emergency services were called to the home of Ellouisa Brighton, 36, about 12.30am on Wednesday to find the property in the suburb of Harristown, 130km west of Brisbane, fully engulfed in flames.

Ellouisa Brighton has been identified as the mother of three children who died following a horror house fire in Toowoomba. Photo: Facebook.

The body of a nine-year-old was found inside the home during a search immediately after the blaze, while two girls – aged four and seven – later succumbed to their injuries at Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

Ms Brighton was flown to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital where she was being kept under police guard with critical burns to more than a third of her body.

The woman was also charged with three counts of attempted murder, relating to a 34-year-old man, an 18-year-old man, and 11-year-old boy who were also in the home at the time of the fire. Ms Brighton also faces one charge of arson.

The older man at the home underwent surgery for serious injuries to his arm, while the other two survivors were largely unharmed.

Ms Brighton did not appear before Brisbane Arrests Court on Tuesday. The court was told she remained comatose in hospital.

Acting Magistrate Nigel Rees said that due to the nature of the charges, they would need to be adjourned until Friday.

He ordered Ms Brighton to appear via video link from hospital.

Police said they were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident, and investigations remained ongoing.

Additional reporting: Newswire