Man sentenced to 3 years in death of child in fire

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.

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Information from: The Jersey Journal , http://www.nj.com/jjournal