A mother who died alongside her young daughter after setting fire to their home posted a heartbreaking video hours earlier in which she called herself a ‘broken lost soul’ and admitted she could not ‘see any other way out of this’.
Danielle Parkinson and her daughter Iliza, eight, died in hospital following the blaze, in the early hours of July 31, 2024, at their home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Her older daughter, who was 10 at the time of the fire, was critically injured but survived.
At an inquest on Wednesday into the deaths, Bradford Coroners’ Court heard how Parkinson had been documenting her mental health struggles, including living with bipolar disorder and depression, on her YouTube channel.
The hearing was shown her final video, made the day before the fire and lasting 19 minutes, in which Parkinson had revealed she had been ‘suffering more and more’.
Turning to the camera, and saying ‘I’m sorry’, the mother-of-two showed off two new ‘lost souls’ tattoos which she had added to her face that day.
She said: ‘This is the final one and you know what that means. I’ve come to the conclusion that I just can’t do it…I want to die who I am, a broken lost soul…I just feel like in my head I know what I have got to do…I just don’t see any other way out of this because every day that I am here I’m suffering more and more and more, smoking until I can’t possible smoke any more and trying to numb myself to the point where I don’t want to feel anything.
‘If you see this I am gone and that’s why. I’m sorry for the way that I did everything…It’s a shame because the people that did work with me and helped me were incredible.
‘This isn’t about them. I don’t want anyone to doubt anything about themselves because you guys didn’t fail me.’
Danielle Parkinson showed off her ‘lost soul’ tattoos which she had added to her face just hours before a blaze broke out at her home in which she and her young daughter were killed
The mother-of-two died alongside her young daughter, Iliza, eight, after setting fire to their home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in July 2024
In the video, Danielle – who had previously tried to take her own life and had spent time in respite care – said she believed her purpose was to ‘help others’.
She said: ‘There needs to be so much help with mental health. Even if I went into an institution I’d have to leave my kids. I’m not letting this world do what it did to me, no way…I’m not letting the disgusting things that happened to me happen to them.’
During the video, a fire engine could be heard going past Danielle’s window before she addressed someone through the camera.
She said: ‘You still are you. You are still you and the person you was and did and the things you did.
‘Just because I’m not here doesn’t mean things go away, you don’t get a new slate…You will always be what you are. That’s it…I will always be the lost soul.’
Hours later, a fire is believed to have begun in the hallway of her home in Leeds Road, Huddersfield. A passerby noticed flames at around 2am and emergency services were called.
When Iliza was found, she had suffered 90 per cent burns to her body, as well as stab and defensive wounds. She was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, before being transferred to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where she later died.
Summarising the post-mortem report, assistant coroner Caroline Chandler said Iliza had sustained, to the left side of her chest, a ‘1cm by 0.5cm superficial stab wound,’ as well as other incise wounds in other areas of her body.
A passerby had spotted the fire in the early hours of the morning and called the fire brigade. Pictured: Forensic officers examine the scene in July 2024
The inquest heard that a passerby was unable to get into the house when they tried and had heard ‘screams’ from an upstairs window
A fire is believed to have begun in the hallway of the home in Leeds Road, Huddersfield
The inquest was told Parkinson had a long history of mental health concerns, including anxiety and depression – and she had contacted her GP just weeks before her death saying she had been feeling suicidal, BBC News reported.
She had been referred to the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and was being supported by a team specialising in mental health crisis.
The court also heard evidence from Detective Sergeant Cawthorne, who works in the homicide and major enquiry team at West Yorkshire Police.
In her evidence she told how a passer-by had spotted the fire and called the fire brigade.
It was said the man was unable to get into the house when they tried and heard ‘screams’ from an upstairs window.
DS Cawthorne also read out a letter from Danielle found inside a laptop on a trampoline outside her home and a summary of Iliza’s school record.
She said: ‘Between September 2019 and July 2024 there were several behavioural concerns recorded. There were multiple records of her being a victim of bullying after her hair had been shaved off.
‘On the 15th of December 2023, she asked staff how she could kill herself as she didn’t want to be here anymore.’
The court also heard evidence from two of Danielle’s friends who had seen her on July 30.
DS Cawthorne said: ‘She [one of the friends] said she [Danielle] said her mum being in her house was the biggest problem.’
The court was told Danielle’s mother and stepfather had moved out while she was out on July 30.
DS Cawthorne relayed her conclusion to the court and said: ‘Reviewing all of the material we concluded that there was no third-party involvement and it was Danielle who was responsible for the fire which resulted in the death of her and her daughter.’
The inquest continues.
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