Thread: 2 years in prison for man whose infant died in fire pit

2 years in prison for man whose infant died in fire pit
By Christine Clarridge

Seattle Times staff writer

A Federal Way man charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of his 7-month-old son in a backyard fire pit was sentenced today to just under two years in prison and deportation to his native Mexico.

Alberto Rios, 39, pleaded guilty to the charge in August.

At Rios' sentencing hearing today, his wife, to no avail, begged the judge not to condemn their family to more suffering by sentencing her husband to prison.

According to an earlier statement, Rios said on the night of June 21 he and his wife, Maria Santana, hosted a party at their home to celebrate the completion of a construction job. During the celebration, he drank six to nine beers, according to that statement.

After guests left, Rios took the couple's son, Diego Alberto Rios-Santana, and their 4-year-old daughter outside to the fire pit. They settled in, and he tucked the baby between his arm and chest, Rios said.

Rios said he fell asleep with Diego in his arms.

When he awoke around midnight, his daughter and infant son were gone. Rios said he ran inside and found his daughter but not his son. He ran back outside and that's when he found the child in the fire pit, he said in the statement.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office said Diego died of smoke inhalation and burns to his entire body.

Attorneys had said that Rios could be deported after his sentencing or could be made to serve his sentence first. Rios, who has used different aliases and birth dates in the past, already has been deported to Mexico three times — in 1994, 1996 and 2001, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said. He also has several prior drug-related convictions, according to court documents.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... it03m.html

Good riddance!

He was not "drunk." HE WAS PASSED OUT. Only an unconscious person would not wake up with screams from a little baby 3 feet away. He needs to be jailed FOR LIFE so he can't hurt anyone else.

Oh my lord no..........

Only two years??????????

This guys was obviously stoned (drunk) out of his mind. How do we know he didn't dump the baby in the fire pit purposely to stop it from crying or something? Remember, there were no actual witnesses. Whatever, accident or not, he definitely should have recieved more than two years. Send him to prison and deport his illegal alien family!

Ex_OC wrote:

Only an unconscious person would not wake up with screams from a little baby 3 feet away.

Like I said, perhaps he purposely dumped his baby in the fire pit! Drunk people do some pretty stupid things at times. I can't believe the judge and jury actually bought the whole story, hook, line, and sinker.

[size=18]Where was the mother? Was she passed out, too? If not, what mother (even a criminal alien invader mother!) would allow her 7 month old to sleep with dad out by a fire pit in the back yard, instead of in his bed??

If you ask me, she should have been slapped with child endangerment charges, simply for her negligence.

And if he's been deported before than he should be hit with felony reentry charges, on top of the others. But, typical Washington state liberal fat-heads, of course they'll never do this.

{Mod Edit}