Say She Set Fire To Her Ex, Apts.

Still hospitalized with severe burns resulting from a two-alarm fire in Middle Village she allegedly started last June, a woman was booked last Thursday, Nov. 13 with the murders of her ex-boyfriend and three others who died in the blaze, it was announced.

Law enforcement sources said 48-year-old Agnes Bermudez of Grand Street in upstate Newburgh was charged by police with four counts of second-degree murder as well as second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and arson for igniting the fatal inferno on 69th Street on Sunday morning, June 15.

The blaze—allegedly started by the suspect after she set fire to 32- year-old William Salazar during an argument with him in the stairwell of the structure—spread to the upper floors and led to the deaths of three residents, police said. Salazar died four days later from his injuries.

Bermudez herself, according to published reports, remains in Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx recovering from severe burns she sustained in the blaze.

As previously reported in this paper, the fire broke out at around 7:35 a.m. on June 15 inside the stairwell of the three-story building on 69th Street near Metropolitan Avenue.

Law enforcement sources said Bermudez had allegedly confronted Salazar, later identified as her exboyfriend, earlier that morning and became embroiled in a dispute with him. During the argument, it was reported, the suspect sprayed a carpet cleaner on the man and ignited it.

The flames reportedly engulfed Salazar and then spread up the stairwell to apartments on the second and third floors of the building. With the staircase serving as the only means of egress from the building, as later determined by investigators, several tenants became trapped.

As a result, police said, three of the apartment dwellers jumped out of windows to the ground below. While on fire, it was reported, Salazar sought aid at a deli on the first floor and was assisted by individuals at the scene.

Over 20 Fire Department units along with officers from the 104th Precinct and EMS units responded to the blaze, which was brought under control about 45 minutes after being started.

One resident, 68-year-old Heriberto Garcia-Vera, was pulled out from the blaze by firefighters and pronounced dead at the scene. His wife, 48-year-old Flor Sandoval, and their 20-year-old son, Felipe Garcia, died later that evening after being hospitalized with severe burns.

Salazar, as reported, died on Thursday, June 19, as a result of his injuries.

Three other residents escaped from the blaze with injuries that were not life-threatening, it was noted.

According to the Queens District Attorney's office, Bermudez was arraigned last Friday, Nov. 14 at Jacobi Medical Center before Judge Steven Paynter, who ordered her held in custody without bail and to return to court on Jan. 7, 2009.

If convicted, she could face up to 25 years to life in prison.

The investigation was conducted by Det. Jason Houlihan of the 104th Precinct Detective Squad, which is supervised by Lt. Christopher Guiffre; Det. Daniel Moser of the Queens Homicide Task Force, which is supervised by Lt. John Perdoch; FDNY Fire Marshals Robert Cristadoro and Michael Durkin; and Assistant District Attorneys Catherine L. O'Connell and Travis W. Hunter of the D.A.'s Homicide Investigations Bureau.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jack Warsawsky, deputy bureau chief of the Homicide Trials Bureau, which is supervised by Assistant District Attorney Brad A. Leventhal.