Marcelia Fonseca appears in court via video conference Dec. 13, 2022. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A teen who allegedly intentionally set the fire which killed her 11-month-old nephew will stand trial Oct. 16, a court said Tuesday — more than four years after the blaze.
Marcelia Fonseca — now 18, but 15 at the time of the fire — is charged in adult court with arson and first-degree intentional homicide for the June 2019 fire on Green Bay’s northeast side.
Fonseca’s current attorneys were assigned to the case two months ago and are still reviewing all of the evidence in the case. That, combined with other trials they have, are part of the reason for the trial to be scheduled 10 months out.
A two-week trial is scheduled.
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.
At previous hearings, a judge rejected requests to have the case handled in juvenile court and ruled Fonseca’s statements about the fire can be used at trial.
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