Thaindian News

May 19 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A ten year old boy in Haverhill, Massachusetts has been charged with 2 counts of manslaughter after allegedly using a lighter which set a fire, killing two members of his family in a Warren Street home on November 7, 2008. The child plead ‘not guilty’ Monday in Lawrenceville Juvenile Court to the two counts of involuntary manslaughter with which he was charged. His name and other information about the proceedings are being withheld from the public because of his age.

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office, Stephen O’Connell made a statement that the boy had used a lighter to set the fire which started at about 9 pm in the bedroom located upstairs in the home. The blaze quickly spread through the rest of the two story house and killed his aunt, Mary Pina, and her 6 year old nephew, Daquon Davis, who was in the first grade at Golden Hill Elementary School.

The two had been trapped by the fire in an upper room, according to the Fire Marshal Stephen Coan. Although the district attorney’s office says that they are filing the charges t be sure that the boy gets the help he needs, the boy’s attorney, Janice Bassil feels that although their intentions may be good, the boy is too young to understand the legalities. He will be tried as a juvenile, “Age 14 is the minimum age we can indict someone as a youthful offender, where a person can be tried as an adult,” O’Connell said.