Six-year-old Fernando Torres had just finished kindergarten at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Lansing. His little sister, 4-year-old Maria Fernanda Torres, was supposed to start school with him this fall.

"The kids are so nice, so respectful, very soft-spoken, very nice kids. Very pleasant," reflects next-door neighbor Maria Theresa "Tess" Pido.

Pido says she was the last to see the two children and their mother, 26-year-old Nadia Torres, before the three died in a fire in their home Tuesday afternoon.

Police say their father, Fernando, was at work at the time.

Ingham County Medical Examiner Dr. Dean Sienko says autopsies for the mother and daughter have been completed; the cause of death is smoke inhalation. He expects the son to have died of the same.

It's a fire officials call suspicious-- and Pido can't get it off her mind.

"I said 'Go in and look for the mother and two kids!' Then they brought the boy out, and I said 'Oh my God,'" Pido says.

Wednesday afternoon, you could still see chunks of glass everywhere from where firefighters tried to break the windows to rescue the family from the fire; it's a fire neighbors say could have been prevented.

"There was a letter sent to the south precinct on June 9, asking them to look into what was happening at this house and give these people some help," says neighbor Michael Button.

Police confirm the incidents Button speaks of: in the past month, the Torres' home on Everettdale had been broken into twice, vandalized, and their cars torched on fire.

Fernando Torres, the father, was so concerned he had recently put up surveillance cameras at his home and installed a security system.

"We all feared for their safety," Button says.

"I can't comment on it," says Lt. Noel Garcia of the Lansing police, "without knowing the details of the claim."

Neighbors are left wondering what if.

"I feel so sorry for Fernando. He lost his wife, and children. They were the apples to his eyes," Pido says.