The child was inside his home at the Palmview Apartments on Schuller at Clarence around 10:30pm Saturday when the building started to burn.
Several tenants were able to make it outside safely, but witnesses said the child was inside an apartment by himself.
One witness told police the child's mother and father were outside when the fire started.
The father works security at the apartment complex. A neighbor tried to tell him the building was burning, but told us the dad didn't think his unit was on fire until it was too late.
"He fell down on the ground, like, 'My baby in there,' and I said, 'Get up off the ground and let's go in and get the kid.' And that is what I done," neighbor Elvis Patterson said.
Patterson tried to save the baby.
"I kicked the door in, took two chairs and blown all the windows out trying to get the baby out, me and my uncle," he said. "But after that, the fire just knocked us down and we couldn't get in, in time."
When firefighters arrived, they found the baby dead in the rubble.
In all, four units were damaged by fire and another four units were damaged by water and smoke. Investigators are working to determine the cause.
The child's name has not been released. Police are questioning the parents and the case remains under investigation.
The HFD Arson Division will investigate the cause of the fire. The Houston Police Department's investigation into the baby's death is pending autopsy results.
