Police have charged an individual, who had been deported three times, with starting the California fire that tragically claimed the lives of a mother and her two children. The suspect is believed to be an illegal immigrant.
San Joaquin County prosecutors have recently announced that they have arrested 59-year-old Jose Carmen Cardona on Friday and pressed charges against him for the June 25 camper fire that resulted in the deaths of 32-year-old Lisbeth Gutierrez-Salazar and her two sons, Juan Gutierrez-Salazar, 10, and Julian Cardona-Gutierrez, 7, in Stockton.
According to the police, the victim was in a relationship with Cardona.
The US Marshals Service apprehended the suspect who had been evading capture.
In a statement released on Friday, Lasha Boyden, the US Marshal for the Eastern District of California, acknowledged the tireless efforts and extensive travels of the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force in locating the violent fugitive.
“We were able to swiftly and safely take this suspect into custody, all thanks to a tipster. The community and the nation felt the weight of the loss of life in this tragic event,” said Boyden. “My hope is that the victims’ family can find some comfort in knowing that the capture of the suspect has been made.”
According to a statement from the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office, Carmona is accused of starting the fatal fire just before 6:40 a.m. on June 25th. The trailer, which Gutierrez-Salazar and her two children were sleeping inside, was already ablaze by the time firefighters arrived on the scene.
After the fire, police identified Carmona as the suspect and issued a five-count arrest warrant for him three days later on charges of murder, attempted murder, and child endangerment.
Fox News reported that Carmona had been deported from the US three times but he continued to return illegally. It was not disclosed which country he originally came from.
