GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The murder trial has been postponed for a teen who allegedly set the fire which killed her 11-month-old nephew.
Marcelia Fonseca, now 17, is charged in adult court with arson and first-degree intentional homicide for the June 2019 fire on Green Bay’s northeast side.
With the attorneys continuing to work through pre-trial evidentiary motions, the Feb. 21 trial was postponed Wednesday to May 31. Motions hearings are now scheduled for Feb. 22 and 24, on what would have been two of the days during the trial, court records show.
According to the complaint, fire crews were called to 2519 Wisconsin Avenue on June 7, 2019, for a fire. The residents were able to escape, except for an 11-month-old. He later died. He is only identified by his initials.
According to the autopsy, he “had sustained total body surface burns across 100% of the body, ranging from first degree through third degree in severity.”
One of the residents told investigators they believed faulty wiring the cause, but investigators “concluded that the fire originated in the southeast corner of the second-floor east bedroom, where the metal wire laundry/grocery cart with combustible contents was located. The cause of the fire was classified as “incendiary” through the elimination of all competent ignition sources in the area of fire origin. It was determined that the fire resulted from the application of an open flame to available combustible materials, to include papers and/or plastics, contained within the metal wire laundry/grocery cart,” the complaint says.
The laundry/grocery cart was just a few feet from the playpen the child was in.
In an interview with police, Fonseca gave several different versions of what happened in the time leading up to the fire. She couldn’t answer why she opened a door to let a cat out during the fire, but did not check on her nephew. She denied starting the fire, although she was the last person in the room with him, the complaint states.
In Wisconsin, those ages 10 and older charged with homicide are prosecuted in adult court. Fonseca’s request to have the case moved to juvenile court was previously denied.
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