No Charges Filed in Tragic Burning Death of Young Boy

No criminal charges will be filed in connection with a gasoline fire that killed an 18-month-old East San Diego boy, police said Wednesday.

Enrique Hernandez’s sister, Angela, 19, was baby-sitting him while his parents were at work Tuesday, said Detective Jim Valle, who investigated the case for the San Diego Police Department’s child abuse detail. When Angela Hernandez had to go to work at 12:45 p.m., she went to get another sister who lived two blocks away, and the incident occurred “almost immediately,” Valle said.

“It wasn’t like the parents or anyone else neglected or abandoned the children,” he said. “Even if the sitter was there, even if the sitter was right in the living room, it still could have happened.”

Enrique was left with two other sisters, ages 8 and 9, and a 2-year-old cousin. When the 9-year-old went to check the mail, she accidentally left the door to the patio open, and Enrique and his cousin brought in the gasoline from the patio. Enrique apparently spilled some of the gasoline, which was then ignited by the pilot light on a water heater.

A neighbor found Enrique shortly thereafter, and the first police arrived at 12:59, 14 minutes after Angela left the house.

“So who do we blame?” Valle said. “Do we blame the mother for going to work? Do we blame the father for going to work? Do we blame the 19-year-old for going to work? Do we blame the 9-year-old for checking the mail? Maybe we blame them all, but I can’t see criminal charges being filed.”

Valle said the tragedy could have been even worse because the boy’s young cousin was standing right behind him when he caught on fire.