A Wilmington woman has pleaded guilty to charges related to a blaze that took the lives of three firefighters.
“Beatriz Fana-Ruiz recklessly started a fire in the basement of the home where she lived, resulting in the tragic deaths of three Wilmington Fire Department Firefighters and serious injury to another. While her motivation in setting the fire was a reaction to her living conditions and was not intended to physically harm anyone, her actions were reckless, dangerous, and tragically, fatal,” a release from the Delaware Department of Justice stated.
The state and Fana-Ruiz agreed on a plea that will include a lengthy jail sentence and require drug and alcohol treatment.
Fana-Ruiz pleaded guilty to Murder Second Degree, Arson First Degree, and Assault First Degree and will be sentenced in December.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has since filed a detainer against Fana-Ruiz, seeking her deportation to her home country of the Dominican Republic when released from custody in Delaware.
According to the Justice Department, her guilty plea completes the criminal prosecution “will allow those affected to close this chapter of the tragedy that began on September 24, 2016.”
