Sentencing in arson case gets postponed due to emergency
Sentencing for one of the suspects charged in connection to the January 2018 arson fire at an under-construction apartment complex was postponed again.
It was postponed because attorney Eugene Marquez of the Yuma County Public Defenders Office asked for a continuance, and a new sentencing date for early next month.
Marquez explained to the court that his client, Daniel Molina, could not be present for the hearing due to an emergency in Phoenix pertaining to his infant daughter.
Superior Court Judge David Haws granted the request and rescheduled the matter for 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 6, with sentencing to follow.
At Molina’s previous hearing, in November, the judge informed Molina and his attorney that it was the court’s intention to impose a prison sentence. Upon hearing the court’s intentions, Marquez immediately asked for a mitigation hearing, which has since been held. Molina has pleaded guilty to one count of assisting a criminal street gang in a plea agreement to prosecutors. In return for his guilty plea, 13 other counts of arson against him were dismissed.
According to Yuma police, the fire broke out just before 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 29 at the Mesa Heights Apartment complex, which was under construction in the 2100 block of Arizona Avenue. Nearby residents were evacuated.
Over 20 properties were damaged and six buildings were totally destroyed, including an apartment building and five homes. Six other vehicles or structures sustained significant damage, and there were 15 other small yard and debris fires, one of which burned a carport screen.
Also arrested in the case were 25-year-old James Mee and 19-year-old Trayvon Johnson. Two boys ages 16 and 17 were also arrested in connection to the case.
According to court records, Molina, who is a member of the East Side Naked City gang, admitted that he took part in the planning of the fire, and that it was being done as an act of retaliation toward the Okie Town gang.