A man from Kentucky, accused of starting a fire at his residence resulting in the death of his teenage sons and the family dog, requested the judge on Monday to allow him to be released from jail to attend their funerals.
“Is there any chance of me furloughing out for the kids’ funeral?” Dustin Fields asked, adding, “I miss my boys.”
Bently Maxwell Fields, 13, and Rylan Austin Fields, 15, were found dead after the fire in Franklin County on April 30, WLEX reported.
According to an arrest document, police say Fields “used accelerants to set fire to his residence knowing that the home was occupied by his two juvenile sons.” A “K-9 detected an accelerant on Dustin’s shoes at various locations in the home and in the area where the bodies were found.”
Fields’ statements to police were “inconsistent and conflicted with witness statements.”
In court on Monday, prosecutors objected to Fields’ release to attend the funeral, but the judge said his attorney could file a motion on th matter for a May 13 preliminary hearing. Meanwhile, his bond was set at $2 million.
Fields has not been charged with the boys’ deaths and so far only faces an arson charge. Police say the investigation continues, and more charges are likely.
According to a GoFundMe set up by a friend of the boys’ stepmother, Jennifer Fields, the Fieldses had a tumultuous relationship, and on December 21, 2024, she picked up Jennifer Fields and the 3-year-old boy she shared with Dustin Fields when she called because “of a domestic violence episode in her home.”
The friend, Christina Means, said that multiple reports had been filed with Child Protective Services in an attempt to get the two teens out of the home, “but tragically, they were never investigated.”
According to Means, Jennifer Fields filed an Emergency Protective Order with the sheriff’s office in mid-March, but the date for that hearing was postponed multiple times and was finally reset for May 7. A week before that hearing, fire destroyed the home and killed the two teenage boys.
