Child among 4 dead as accused arsonist allegedly drank beer during chaos
A New York City man is facing murder charges after allegedly randomly setting a fire in a Queens apartment building that killed four people, including a 3-year-old girl, and injured seven others, authorities announced.
Roman Amatitla, 38, of Maspeth, was arrested Wednesday and arraigned on multiple charges, including eight counts of second-degree murder and first-degree arson, for the March 16 blaze at a three-story building in Flushing.
He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz called the incident an "act of mass murder," noting Amatitla's chilling lack of motive.
"Shockingly, the defendant had no known connection to the building or any of its occupants and selected the building at random," Katz wrote in a statement.
According to prosecutors, Amatitla entered and exited the Avery Avenue building multiple times late that morning, at one point urinating in front of the apartments.
He then went to a nearby gas station, where he bought a beer, stole a second one and took a pack of matches after refusing to pay for a lighter, authorities allege.
He then entered the apartment building for a fourth and final time, authorities said, allegedly lighting a piece of paper on fire and tossing it onto trash near a stairwell.
As smoke engulfed the street, he stayed in the immediate area to watch the building burn.
During a court hearing Thursday, Queens Assistant District Attorney Gabriel Reale said Amatitla "watched as people jumped from various windows, some of them living, one of them dying" while sipping on a beer, according to a report from the New York Post.
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Three of the people killed in the blaze, identified as Sihan Yang, 3, Chengri Cui, 49, and Chie Shin Ming, 61, were found in the building and pronounced dead from smoke inhalation.
A fourth victim, Hong Zhao, 64, died at a hospital after suffering multiple broken bones and brain trauma when he leaped from a window to escape the flames.
Among those injured were a New York City Fire Department (FDNY) lieutenant and a firefighter who plunged into the basement when a staircase collapsed during rescue operations, resulting in thermal burns and smoke inhalation.
Four other occupants were injured jumping from the building to flee the fire, while a fifth was rescued from a second-story window by firefighters.
Prosecutors said Amatitla "had to get his rage out on someone or something," though no official motive has been released.
New York City Police Department records note he is from Mexico, though his immigration status has not been confirmed.
The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.
Amatitla was ordered to remain in custody by Criminal Court Judge Thomas Wright-Fernandez and is scheduled to return to court April 13.