Mother Arrested After Fire Kills Child, Burns 2 Others

A 7-month-old girl died and two siblings suffered critical injuries in a fire in a Maywood apartment that started after the children’s mother left them alone to go grocery shopping, authorities said. The mother was arrested by Maywood police after the Thursday morning fire and charged with child endangerment and murder.

Police said Josefina de la Torre, 35, left her three children unsupervised before the fire broke out. Police believe it was started by one of the children.

Sahairy Vega, 3, and Georgina Vega, 7 months, were rushed to St. Francis Medical Center, where Georgina was pronounced dead shortly after arrival, said Tracy Black, a hospital spokeswoman. Sahairy was transferred to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition and was on life support systems. Raymundo Vega, 4, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60% of his body and was listed in critical condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

De La Torre was in custody in Maywood, where police said she had been charged with murder because Georgina’s death was due to De La Torre’s negligence.

“It’s a terrible tragedy and we feel caught in the middle,” said Sgt. Ed Robison, who was involved in the investigation. “We have a dead kid and another who may not make it. The idea of arresting the mother is very distasteful.”

The case is still under investigation, but Robison said the fire is believed to have been started in the two-story apartment by the Raymundo because he was the only one to suffer major burns. “The two girls were in an upstairs bedroom and succumbed to smoke inhalation, but the boy was downstairs near the point of origin,” he said. “The boy probably set a chair on fire.”

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to consider a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the arsonist responsible for a South-Central Los Angeles blaze Wednesday that claimed the lives of a couple and two of their small children.

“I was deeply disturbed by it,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who plans to ask the council to approve the $25,000 reward.

Investigators said they are pursuing several leads. Detective Olivia Spindola of the Police Department’s criminal conspiracy section said police are trying to determine whether the fire might be related to the fact that Amparo Martinez, the mother, had been expected to testify against a man who was found with her credit card in his possession.

“It is one of many things we are looking at,” she said.

Ridley-Thomas, in addition to asking for help in finding the arsonist, said he has asked the city to investigate conditions in the family’s small back-yard house.

The four family members died during the early morning fire when they became trapped in a bedroom. The bedroom windows were blocked by bars that were not equipped with releases. Ridley-Thomas also noted that the family rental was an illegally converted garage.

“The conditions, a converted garage and bars that provided no emergency exit, constitute a deathtrap,” he said.

By law, bars on bedroom windows are required to have release devices that enable occupants to escape in 30 seconds. Violators face a misdemeanor charge that carries up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.