Girl, 12, dies in house fire

The family of a 12-year-old girl thought she had safely escaped her burning home early Wednesday morning. Only later, after the chaos ended, did they discover she hadn't. "Everyone said she got out," said Dorothy Jefferson, the girl's grandmother. "We didn't know until we got to the hospital." Killed in the 3 a.m. fire was Lamesha "Meme" Ryan. Her 8-year-old brother Jeffery Jefferson suffered smoke inhalation and burns to his face, according to the grandmother. The boy is being treated at University Medical Center Health System Hospital Burn Unit in Lubbock. A 10-year-old sister, Ariell "Tay" Ryan, suffered a severe cut to her wrist when she broke a window to escape the home at 1305 N.W. 10th Ave. The mother of the children, 41-year-old Brenda Lee Ryan, was treated at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo for smoke inhalation and later released.