ENDWELL, New York — The criminal case over the pre-dawn fire that tore through the Knights Inn motel in Endwell last June, killing a young family of five and a 58-year-old woman, escalated sharply on Thursday: a Broome County grand jury has indicted Tyler J. Russell, 24, of Endwell, on six counts of second-degree murder, District Attorney Paul Battisti announced on November 5, 2026. Russell had initially been charged with manslaughter; the indictment now accuses him of murder, alongside one count of fourth-degree arson and one count of tampering with physical evidence. All charges are allegations, and Russell is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Source: WNBF News (Broome County District Attorney's announcement)

What the indictment alleges

According to the district attorney's release, reported by WNBF, the grand jury found that Russell allegedly recklessly damaged the building by intentionally starting a fire — conduct prosecutors say caused six deaths. The murder counts are second-degree murder under New York law, the charge prosecutors use when a death is caused during the commission of another felony or through conduct showing depraved indifference; the precise legal theory will be set out when Russell is arraigned in Broome County Court at a later date. He also faces one count of fourth-degree arson and one count of tampering with physical evidence, for a total of eight counts.

June 22: six minutes past six in the morning

The fire erupted at about 6:01 a.m. on June 22, 2026, at the Knights Inn at 2603 East Main Street in Endwell, a hamlet in the town of Union, Broome County, in New York's Southern Tier. The Broome County 911 Center received multiple reports of the blaze, the New York State Police said, and the fire tore through a two-storey building of the motel as residents — many of them families placed there by the county — tried to escape. Ten fire crews responded, according to contemporary reporting.

A family of five was found on the second floor: Joshua Molyneaux, 29, and Dominique Cruz-Champion, 27, were in a room with their three young children, aged 10 months, 2 years and 3 years. All five died. The sixth victim, Michelle Woolfolk, 58, was found in a room on the first floor. More than 70 people were displaced by the fire and lost their homes and belongings; the motel, a 24,000-square-foot property with 76 units, was left a burned-out shell.

Arrested the same evening — now facing murder counts

Russell was taken into custody several hours after the blaze. The New York State Police said its Bureau of Criminal Investigation arrested him at about 8:26 p.m. on June 22, after consultation with the Broome County District Attorney's Office, initially on six counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of fourth-degree arson. He was processed at the State Police barracks in Endwell and taken to the Broome County Jail for centralized arraignment. Contemporary reporting, citing state prison records, said Russell had previously served two years in state prison on a fourth-degree grand larceny conviction and had been released on parole in February 2026.

Background: the fire lit up a county housing crisis

The Knights Inn deaths did not happen in a policy vacuum. Investigations by ProPublica and New York Focus had documented inspection problems at the motel from 2018 to 2021 — missing lights, damaged walls, broken or unsecured doors and windows, torn carpets and cockroaches — while the county continued placing social-services cases there. Broome County spent $9.4 million on emergency housing in 2025, according to state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance figures cited in reporting on the fire, and County Executive Jason Garner has since announced a nationwide search for a partner to replace the motel-shelter model. Local advocates argue the criminal case, whatever its outcome, cannot by itself answer how six people came to be sleeping in a building with that record.

Since the fire, reporting in Binghamton has said the motel's owner retained a Vestal company to demolish what remains of the fire-damaged structure, even as questions continued over whether any part of the property might reopen. For the families of the six victims, the process now moves from investigation to prosecution: the upgrade from manslaughter to murder counts signals that the district attorney's office believes it can prove the higher charges to a jury.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Russell is to be arraigned in Broome County Court at a later date, the district attorney's office said; no date had been announced as of Thursday. At arraignment he will be formally read the eight counts and enter a plea. If convicted of second-degree murder in New York, he faces a potential sentence of 25 years to life on each count. The State Police investigation into the fire remains the foundation of the case, and officials have said further information will be released as the court process allows.