INDIANAPOLIS — LGBT advocates delivered petitions with more than 5,000 signatures to incoming Indiana governor Eric Holcomb, asking him to support civil rights protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Chris Paulsen, of the pro-gay rights group Freedom Indiana, said polling shows most Indiana residents support the idea. Holcomb, a Republican, has not said if he does. He also has said there is little appetite from lawmakers or the public to push increased protections for LGBT people.

LGBT rights have been a divisive issue ever since lawmakers and Gov. Mike Pence created a religious objections law in 2015.

Coroner releases names

of 4 girls killed in fire

FLORA, Ind. — Authorities have released the names of four sisters killed in a house fire that also injured their mother and two law enforcement officers.

Carroll County Coroner Jay Dee Cree identified the girls as Keyana Davis, 11; Keyara Phillips, 9; Kerriele McDonald, 7; and Kionnie Welch, 5. He listed their preliminary cause of death as asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation.

The girls died early Monday when a fire swept the apartment where they lived with their mother in a house divided into two apartments in the town of Flora, about 60 miles north of Indianapolis.

The children's mother was injured, as were a sheriff's deputy and Flora police officer who tried to rescue the children. Firefighters retrieved the girls, but could not revive them.

The fire's cause remains under investigation.

FORT WAYNE — Authorities have identified two teenagers who died in a crash involving a horse-drawn buggy and pickup truck.

The Allen County coroner's office has identified the victims as Rebecca Graber, 18, of Grabill, and Michelle Graber, 16, of Fort Wayne. Their deaths were ruled accidental. The cause was blunt force trauma due to a motor vehicle crash. Authorities said Tuesday they didn't know yet how the teens were related.

The crash happened Sunday evening. Police are searching for the driver of pickup truck, who fled. Two men were taken to the hospital with serious and critical injuries.

Authorities said two other crashes involving horse-and-buggies happened nearby, but those crashes were not related to the fatal crash and didn't involve life-threatening injuries.

The crashes are under investigation.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Authorities said a man has been charged in the fatal shooting of his son outside South Bend.

The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office announced charges against Christopher Fulce Sr., 47, on Monday. The South Bend Tribune reported he's being held in St. Joseph County Jail without bond.

Court documents state Charlin Fulce, 19, was struck in the head and neck area and a bullet fragment entered his brain. He was pronounced dead Friday. The two had allegedly been arguing over the adoption of another family member.

Witnesses told police that the two physically fought. Then the elder Fulce opened fire at his son's car while he was attempting to leave.

The son reportedly fired back but did not strike anyone.

VINCENNES, Ind. — An Indiana funeral home that's believed to be the state's oldest continuously operated business is celebrating its 200th year.

The Gardner-Brockman Funeral Home traces its roots to 1816, when Andrew Gardner began making cabinets in Vincennes but quickly switched over to making coffins.

The business will celebrate its long history with a Dec. 3 open house in the city about 40 miles north of Evansville.

Chris Sievers is one of funeral home's three partners. He told the Vincennes Sun-Commercial the Gardner Funeral Home was merged with the Brockman Funeral Home in 1998 after both were purchased by another company.

Sievers said the business was corporation-owned until 2011, when it was acquired by Goodwin Funeral Homes and became locally owned once again.

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana undergraduate students are partnering with the University of Havana on a program researching treatments for neglected diseases.

Such diseases are those that have little or no financial incentive to research because they affect small or poverty-stricken populations. Students and researchers with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis recently traveled to Cuba to begin a partnership with the University of Havana on the topic.

IUPUI said its program is more affordable because it breaks down research into small components that can be distributed to multiple low-cost sites. Many of the sites are in classrooms where students in organic chemistry lab courses study molecules that have drug potential. School officials said the program also gives university student good learning experiences.

—Associated Press