March 04, 2018 - 12:27 PM
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - A New Jersey man who acknowledged tossing lit matches in an apartment, sparking a fire that killed an infant and damaged dozens of buildings, has been sentenced to three years in prison.
The Jersey Journal reports 20-year-old Edwin Diaz was sentenced on Friday in Hudson County on a reckless manslaughter plea in the March 2017 death of 1-year-old Eddie Gonzalez Jr.
Diaz says he was in the Union City apartment with the boy's father and they were lighting matches and tossing them on a cousin sleeping on a couch, which caught fire.
Diaz has apologized, saying there isn't a day he doesn't think "of the innocent child we lost that night." The boy's father pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced earlier to five years in prison.
___
Information from: The Jersey Journal , http://www.nj.com/jjournal
News from © The Associated Press, 2018