Parents of kids killed in blaze released

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1998 | 10:16 a.m.

The parents who lost two young children -- and may yet lose their third -- in recent a house fire have been released from jail without bail pending resolution of felony child neglect charges.

Armondo Delgadillo Sr. and Elvira Guardado made their first court appearance Monday after their Friday arrest by police as they visited their lone surviving child at University Medical Center.

The couple's 6-year-old boy has only a 50-50 chance of survival, according to Deputy Public Defender Phil Kohn, who called the case "probably the worst tragedy I've seen in 20 years as a lawyer."

The prosecutor and the judge also sympathized with the emotional couple, who had been living at the hospital while trying to rouse their remaining child from a smoke-induced coma.

But Deputy District Attorney Thomas Moreo, who heads the Crimes Against Women and Children unit, reminded the court that "two small children died as a result of their action or inaction."

District Attorney Stewart Bell said later that despite the personal devastation suffered by the parents, a decision was made that criminal charges were necessary to send a clear message that children can't be left home unsupervised.

"If one parent had stayed home, or if they hired a babysitter, this wouldn't have happened," Bell said, noting that the parents were away for more than two hours as flames ignited by a space heater consumed their home.

Moreo said that two of the children, a girl age 4 and the 6-year-old boy, were trapped behind a door they were unable to open and suffered smoke inhalation. A 2-year-old boy in another room died in the flames.

Moreo didn't oppose the couple's own recognizance release providing there could be controls to ensure that the Mexican nationals who had been in Las Vegas five years would appear at future court hearings.

Although Justice of the Peace Bill Jansen said "it concerns me that something is not kosher" about the night of the fire, he released the couple into the custody of Hispanic activist Ray Vega, who described himself as the Honorary Consul General from Mexico.

Jansen said it is not clear why the parents weren't home and suggested they had just taken a drive to look at the lights, rather than going shopping as they said.

The parents will return to court Friday to have a preliminary hearing set on the charges that could put them in prison for up to 20 years, although it is not likely prosecutors will push for prison time.

The parents had left the children at home Jan. 24 to go grocery shopping, according to Tim Szymanski, spokesman for the Las Vegas Fire Department. The couple told investigators they left home about 10 p.m.

At 11:09 p.m., firefighters received a 911 call of a fire in a small two-bedroom, wood-framed home at 1606 Ferrell Street near Rancho and Vegas drives.