Malcolm X’s Widow Is Burned in Suspicious Fire

NEW YORK — The widow of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X suffered severe burns Sunday in an intense fire that investigators said was suspicious. Police said they arrested a young relative in connection with the blaze.

Doctors said Betty Shabazz, 63, had third-degree burns over 80% of her body and was in extremely critical condition at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx.

Because the fire was limited to the small area of the three-bedroom apartment in nearby Yonkers where Shabazz was found, detectives immediately treated the residence as a possible crime scene.

New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir indicated that the fire was deliberate. He said the apartment door was forced open and an accelerant was used.

After a daylong investigation, police in Yonkers announced that the youth, whose name was not made public, was charged with juvenile delinquency in connection with the fire. He was incarcerated at a youth facility.

Longtime family lawyer Percy Sutton said the suspect is Shabazz’s 12-year-old grandson.

Sutton, a former Manhattan borough president, said he had seen Shabazz and the child on Saturday, and that the boy had been having difficulties.

“There were problems there with that child. He’s a bright young man, but there were some troubles there,” Sutton said. “Who could have guessed?”

Sutton said he would represent the boy at an arraignment today.

Anthony Troia, a fire captain, said Shabazz was conscious when firefighters arrived at the sixth-floor apartment at 1:40 a.m. EDT. Troia said neighbors reported the fire, and firefighters found Shabazz in a back hallway of the apartment, which is on the top floor of the building. He said she managed to talk to the firefighters.

Troia noted that the fire did not spread to the rest of the apartment.

“That’s why it’s suspicious. We have no idea how it could have done so much damage to her,” he said.

Neighbors assisted Shabazz before firefighters arrived. “She may have been a little delirious,” said Beth Fisher, president of the apartment building’s co-op board. “She asked for water. She wanted her purse. She knew she needed an ambulance.”

Ambulance attendants worked for half an hour at the scene to stabilize Shabazz before she was taken to the hospital. Four firemen who suffered minor injuries were treated at the scene.

Shabazz said her young grandson was in the apartment. Police said a male relative was located later, but declined to reveal whether the youth who was arrested was the same relative.

Neighbors said Shabazz, who heads the office of institutional advancement at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, recently moved into the Haddon Hall apartment complex.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who named Shabazz as the godmother of two of his children, called the fire “absolutely stunning.”

“Clearly the entire city, particularly the African American community, is at the edge of their seat to see what is behind this and praying for her recovery,” the civil rights leader said.

Among those who visited the hospital Sunday were Illayasah, one of Shabazz’s six daughters, and Nation of Islam minister Kevin Mohammad, who said Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was “deeply concerned.”

Farrakhan later issued a statement Sunday, saying, “Our community stands ready to lend whatever resources to assist the family in this hour. We are all praying for her full and complete recovery.”

A reconciliation in 1995 ended a 30-year rift between Shabazz and Farrakhan. Shabazz has said she believes Farrakhan played a role in her husband’s death.

Malcolm X was assassinated by gunmen at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on Feb. 21, 1965. Just a week before, the couple’s New York City home was destroyed by a firebomb.

Malcolm X had criticized Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam’s founder, before the fatal attack, and was labeled a traitor by Farrakhan. Jurors convicted three men with links to the Nation of Islam in the slaying.

Shabazz and Farrakhan reconciled in public after Qubilah Shabazz, another daughter, reached an agreement with federal prosecutors in a case charging that she planned to murder Farrakhan, apparently in retribution for her father’s killing.

Prosecutors agreed to defer the charges for two years under the condition that Qubilah Shabazz undergo drug treatment and not commit any crimes.

Maintaining her innocence, she signed an agreement stating that she accepted responsibility for her conduct. Prosecutors dropped formal charges against her last month.

Qubilah Shabazz has been living in San Antonio, but she is expected to arrive in New York today, Sutton said.

Times wire services contributed to this story.