Murder Charge Filed in Blaze That Killed Girl, 2

Prosecutors filed a charge of first-degree murder under special circumstances Thursday against a Ventura man accused of starting an apartment building fire that killed a 2-year-old girl, a charge that carries a possible death penalty.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office filed the murder charge and two charges of arson against Calvin Michael Mitchell, 44, who allegedly set a Ventura apartment building fire that killed toddler Sarah Galka last Sunday.

Authorities said Mitchell set the fire because he was angry with his former girlfriend, who lived across the hallway from the apartment where the little girl died.

Although police say the girl did not appear to be the target, Mitchell can still be held liable for her death, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard E. Holmes, who is prosecuting the case.

“If you set fire to a building, and someone dies in that fire, it is felony murder, whether you set out to kill them or not,” he said. “I feel confident with the information that I have to go forward” on a charge of first-degree murder.

Municipal Judge Thomas J. Hutchins on Thursday agreed to postpone Mitchell’s arraignment for two weeks after Assistant Public Defender Duane A. Dammeyer asked for more time to review the police report and to assign the murder case to a defense attorney. The arraignment is set for April 11.

Mitchell showed little emotion during his first court appearance.

Police accuse Mitchell of setting a fire on the second-floor landing of an apartment building at 90 S. Laurel Street near downtown Ventura. Sarah Galka died in the fire from smoke inhalation, Ventura coroner’s officials said.

The fire also injured Sarah’s mother, Lainie Galka; a roommate, Arthur Tyrone Finnegan, and 20-month-old Cynthia Anderson, whom Galka was baby-sitting at the time. The other tenants escaped unharmed.

Galka remained in serious condition at Ventura County Medical Center on Thursday, and Finnegan was in fair condition at the same hospital, a nursing supervisor said.

Cynthia has been discharged from Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, a spokeswoman said.

Ventura police are searching for anybody who may have spoken with Mitchell last Saturday or Sunday.