CLEVELAND — As an assistant volunteer basketball coach at Daniel E. Morgan School, Timothy Roberts Sr. said he wants to make his players' lives better on the court and in real life.

"We have to make sure that our community knows how important it is to keep our children,” said Roberts. “We have to use our platform.”

Roberts' desire to use his platform comes after he said one of his former players’ mothers and grandmother died from an October house fire.

RELATED: 1 dead, 1 in critical condition after fire destroys Cleveland apartment

Our overnight news tracker caught the intense smoke coming out of a rowhouse in Kenmore Commons Apartments off Wade Park Avenue in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood.

News 5 later confirmed with officials that a 42-year-old woman and a 71-year-old woman died

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