By Julian Roberts-Grmela, Rocco Parascandola, Emma Seiwell, Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — The accused Queens arsonist arrested for killing four strangers, including a 3-year-old girl, set the fire randomly to get out his anger over being fired that day — and then sat on the curb and sipped a stolen beer as he watched panicked victims jumping out windows, prosecutors said Thursday.
One of Roman Amatitla’s victims died not from smoke or burns but from blunt-force injuries he suffered when he jumped from the burning building targeted at random on Avery Ave. near College Point Blvd. in Flushing in a desperate attempt to escape, prosecutors said.
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Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz called the deadly arson “an act of mass murder” and “one of the greatest crimes that this borough has seen in a very long time.”
Amatitla was furious over losing his job in the food industry when he wandered into the building, which he has no known ties to, on March 16. He set a piece of paper on fire and dropped it onto a pile of rubbish atop a garbage can by the base of the front stairs.
“He said he had to get his rage out on someone or something,” Queens Assistant District Attorney Gabriel Reale said at Amatitla’s arraignment Thursday.
After allegedly setting the fire, he watched it spread, then stepped outside and watched as residents raced out. He sat on the curb, drinking a stolen beer, as the inferno raged and victims fought for their lives, prosecutors say.
He even watched as the mother of 3-year-old Sihan Yang scream in anguish after being told her daughter died in the fire, Reale said.
More than a dozen squatters were living in the building at the time of the fire, authorities believe.
In addition to the toddler, Chengri Cui, a 49-year-old man, and Chie Shin Ming , a 61-year-old woman, died at the scene from smoke inhalation.
Hong Zhao, 64, was rushed to a local hospital, where he died of blunt-force trauma after jumping from the building.
Amatitla was seen repeatedly entering and leaving the building before setting the blaze, even urinating in front of it, according to prosecutors.
Cops arrested Amatitla on Wednesday, charging him with multiple counts of murder, assault and arson. He was also charged with petty larceny for swiping the beer from a nearby BP gas station.
When he stepped into the gas station convenience store before setting the fire, he bought one beer and swiped another without paying, Reale said. He also asked for a lighter but when told he’d have to pay for it asked for a book of matches, which was free.
He motive for setting the fire was “based on rage,” Reale said.
When he ignited the blaze, he heard residents upstairs but went ahead anyway, prosecutors said.
“(He said) that when he was lighting the fire that he had been in a fight at work and that he knew lighting the fire was going to cause harm to someone, but he did it because he needed to get the anger out,” court papers say.
After cops took him into custody, Amatitla, who lives in Maspeth, admitted he had entered the building but claimed he didn’t set it ablaze. He ultimately made statements implicating himself in the crime, prosecutors said.
Before his arrest, Amatitla, who has ties to Mexico, fled to Connecticut for a short time. He was arrested on his return home, cops said.
Judge Thomas Wright-Fernandez ordered Amatitla held without bail. Dressed in a turquoise hoodie and slides, Amatitla said nothing as prosecutors outlined their case.
“What led up to the fire is really quite disturbing,” Katz said at a press conference after the arraignment. “We alleged that he put a piece of paper that was on fire into a garbage, and just let it burn. And he intentionally let it burn. And four people were killed.”
Seven surviving residents — three women and four men, ranging in age from 33 to 67 — were treated for a host of injuries.
Along with Zhao, four other residents were captured on video leaping from windows to escape the flames.
One man who jumped was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury and severe burns. Another resident who jumped from a third-floor window was hospitalized with broken ribs and severe pain to their foot. They were still having trouble walking several weeks later, according to court documents.
As an FDNY lieutenant and firefighter entered the home to make rescues, the staircase collapsed and the pair fell to the basement. They were taken to Jacobi Medical Center , where they were treated for burns and smoke inhalation, court records show.
Katz said that Amititla lost a job “in the food processing industry” before he decided to set the fire.
It remains unclear why the suspect targeted that particular building.
“As far as we can tell, right now, there’s no connection to the individuals at the location. However, it is part of our investigation to look into why that location,” Katz said.
“All we know is that we have proof that he walked into that house, set it on fire, and watched as it burned, drinking some beers.”
The suspect’s lawyer asked the judge and public to remember that “a charge is not a conviction.”
“We intend to vigorously represent him,” defense attorney Vivian Cedeno said after the bail hearing. “I would ask that we let the legal system play out because right now he is presumed innocent.”
On the day of the fire, horrified neighbors saw flames shooting out windows as terrified residents leapt from the building.
“Something blew up,” Wadud Mohammad told the Daily News shortly after the fire. Mohammad, 59, works at a local gas station. “The whole roof was on fire. People were jumping from the building. Others were running across the street.”
Before the blaze, the city Department of Buildings slapped a partial vacate order on the address because the owner had subdivided the second and third floors into multiple dwellings, officials said.
Neighbors said that the building had long been poorly maintained.
“That building is chaos,” said the 30-year-old worker, who would only identify himself as Eric. “The door is always open, like anyone can just walk in. No one was taking care of that house.”
Department of Buildings records indicate an inspection of the Avery Ave. address in 2020 revealed the owner improperly converted the two-family building into a seven-family building “by creating five additional single-room occupancies and nine additional bedrooms.”
Inspectors found the rooms “with key-locking devices, bed, TV, cooking equipment, refrigerators and food items in rooms,” before the partial vacate order was put in place, city records show.
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