In the last hours of her life, Oranjula Shanklin did what she did best: She made her mother laugh.
On Tuesday morning, the 11-year-old played a practical joke on her mother. Less than 24 hours later, she died in a fire that struck her family’s Jamestown Square apartment in East Columbus.
It happened at about 2 a.m. Wednesday. Her family managed to escape the home. Oranjula was lost in the smoke.
Emergency responders found her body downstairs, in the apartment’s living room, according to Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant.
Oranjula was a sixth grader at Columbus Middle School. Her teachers described her as a “sweet” and “quiet” child who always had her head in a book.
When she was with her family, though, another side of her personality came to life. Nicknamed “Baby Girl,” Oranjula was constantly telling jokes and trying to make people laugh, according to her mother, Lynette Shanklin.
“She’s funny, she’s happy and always joking,” Shanklin said in an interview with The Dispatch on Wednesday afternoon. “She’s kind and would do anything to help anybody. I couldn’t ask for a better daughter. She was smart, she was so smart, so smart, so smart. She loved to read. She was my baby.”
At times, while describing her daughter, Shanklin would break into a big smile and wipe away tears.
Oranjula was Shanklin’s middle child. Her daughter, Letavia, is 15. Her son, Travoris, is 10.
Travoris and Oranjula were “inseparable”, Shanklin said. She described the two as best friends.
Travoris said he and his sister were “nosy kids” who liked to explore outside. He said his favorite moment with his sister was when Oranjula got excited because she thought she found a poisonous frog. The two shared many secrets and were always “plotting up stuff,” Lynette Shanklin said.
“Everyone keeps asking [Travoris] if he’s OK and I don’t know,” Shanklin said. “It seems like he’s not processing it yet because he’s taking it easier than I thought he would. So I really just don’t think it’s dawned on him. I’m expecting for him to take it real hard, unless he’s just trying to be strong for me.”
Shanklin, while sitting in her mother’s south Columbus home, blamed herself for her daughter’s death.
“I don’t know how she got away from me,” she said. “I don’t know how she got away from me.”
Shanklin said she was asleep in her upstairs bedroom when the smell of smoke woke her. She went into her children’s bedrooms and tried to hurry them downstairs. Shanklin, who was clutching Oranjula’s hand, said she and her three children fell when they made it to the bottom of the stairs. In the tumble, Shanklin broke her glasses and lost Oranjula’s hand.
“I smelled smoke and I looked up and it was black and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness,'” she said.
“We didn’t see the fire. We just saw all black smoke,” she said. “I had her in this hand and my oldest daughter was in the front and we were all running down the steps and when we fell we fell directly out the door.”
When Shanklin and her oldest daughter stood up, they bumped heads, each breaking their glasses. Shanklin said she looked around for Oranjula but because of her lost glasses and the thickness of the smoke, could not find her. Outside, she heard her daughter calling from inside the burning apartment.
“I hear Baby Doll, and I’m like, ‘Baby Doll, we’re right here,’ and she’s like, ‘Mama, Mama,’ and I just didn’t see her, I couldn’t see her.”
Shanklin said she tried to go back in the apartment, burning her leg in the process, but couldn’t find her daughter.
In between sobs, Shanklin said, “It was just too hot.”
Shanklin said that in a panic she ran to her car, hoping to find something to break the home’s front window to clear some of the smoke so Oranjula could see to escape. When she couldn’t find anything to break the glass, Shanklin ran back to the home and began to bang on the window. Then she heard an explosion inside the house.
“Why couldn’t I get to her?” she said. “Why couldn’t I get to her?”
Columbus Middle School brought in an extra counselor to help students Wednesday. The counselors will also be at the school today and Friday.
“We are working diligently to provide support in the form of grief counseling to teachers and students at all schools,” Superintendent Dr. Philip Hickman said in a statement. “Our prayers and condolences are extended to the families of all those impacted by this tragedy.”
Hickman said students and family can call 662-241-7400 if they have questions or would like to help.
CMSD Middle School counselor Liz Brewer said several students sought counseling Wednesday.
“We have a few who knew what happened, so they were upset when they came in,” Brewer said. “We’ve had a few students that have wanted to talk about and of course we let them come and talk and at this point, if they want to cry, that’s fine. We’ve just allowed them to have their moment.”
Brewer said several of Oranjula’s teachers are also having a difficult time dealing with the loss.
“They were really upset,” she said. “The main thing we want to tell the teachers when we talk to them is to be strong for the kids because it’s such a sensitive situation to happen.”
Four apartments were damaged in the fire. The Shanklin family had moved into No. 21 this summer. A family of four that lived next door to the Shanklins had to be carried out by Columbus Fire & Rescue, according to assistant chief Mark Ward.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal, according to CFR spokesman, Anthony Colom.
Capt. Brent Swan with the Columbus Police Department said foul play is not suspected.
Remembering her daughter, Lynette Shanklin said she will miss Oranjula’s ability to make everyone laugh.
“She was real loving and kind-hearted and she would do anything to make anybody laugh,” she said. “She would do anything for anybody. She couldn’t stand to see people sad.”
Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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