7-year-old girl dies from injuries in Maple Shade apartment fire that also killed her brother

A 7-year-old girl has died from injuries she suffered in a large fire that ripped through a Maple Shade apartment complex last week — a blaze that also killed her 12-year-old brother, police said Thursday.

Hope Marles died as a result of critical injuries from the fire, Maple Shade Township police said in a statement Thursday. The girl had been hospitalized since the May 7 blaze.

Her brother, Alan John “AJ” Marles, died last week shortly after the fire. The children’s mother, Shannon Marles, 35, remains hospitalized in stable condition, police said.

The siblings’ organs and tissues were donated to the Gift of Life Donor Program, “giving others the opportunity to live,” police said.

A GoFundMe page posted by a family member remembered AJ as “one-of-a-kind” and a “hero,” noting that though he is “gone from this earth he will live on” through the donation.

Beth Norcia, superintendent of the Maple Shade School District, which both children attended, said the siblings were “loved by their teachers, their classmates, and all of the staff that they came in contact with over their years in school.”

“AJ and Hope were both exceptional children who brought joy, enthusiasm and genuine love for learning to our schools,” Norcia said. “Our hearts are with their family at this time.”

» READ MORE: 12-year-old boy dead, mother and sister in critical condition following South Jersey apartment fire

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. It began just before 10:30 p.m. at the Fox Meadow Apartments on Adams Drive in the Burlington County town. Officials evacuated residents as flames and thick smoke spewed from the roof of the complex.

Three other people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, police said. In total, the fire damaged 16 apartments and displaced 22 families, according to Red Cross New Jersey. The agency said last week that it had provided temporary lodging, food and clothing to 40 people.

Administrators in the Maple Shade School District said last week that crisis teams were available to support students and their families. Hope was in second grade, and AJ was in sixth grade, Norcia said. The school district will honor the memory of the siblings, she said, “by coming together as a community and supporting one another.”

“Together we will find solace, strength, and resilience as we remember and celebrate the lives of two exceptional children and students,” she said.

The Maple Shade Business Association is collecting money and donations for the families affected by the fire.