By Tiffany Williams –
A 13-year-old boy was killed in a house fire in Margate, Florida, on Thursday afternoon, leaving the community in mourning.
Relatives identified the victim as Gianni Jackson, a Margate Middle School student who had recently moved to South Florida. Family and friends described him as warm, kind, and full of life. His former teacher, Sarah Thomas, called him “a special student with a magnetic personality.”
The fire broke out at a home on Southwest 6th Street, sending thick black smoke into the air as flames tore through the property. Firefighters responded quickly and managed to rescue two adults and a dog from the home.
By evening, flowers, balloons, and candles were placed outside the charred house — a growing memorial for a young life lost too soon.