GREEN BAY (WLUK) — A woman accused of setting the 2019 fire that killed her infant nephew will take a plea deal rather than risk a life sentence if the case is retried, according to her attorney.
Marcelia Fonseca, now 20, was charged with first-degree intentional murder and arson for the June 7, 2019, fire in northeast Green Bay that killed her 11-month-old nephew. Fonseca was 15 at the time of the fire.
After a trial last October, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict – seven jurors voted guilty and five acquitted – so the trial was declared invalid.
Another trial is scheduled for Nov. 4, but last week prosecutors offered her a plea deal. On Tuesday, Fonseca accepted the deal, defense attorney Jessa Nicholson Goetzt told FOX 11.
Fonseca will plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter by using burning materials, Nicholson Goetz said.
This charge carries a maximum sentence of ten years. Had Fonseca been convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, she would have faced life in prison.
A court date for a final decision on the plea has not yet been set, but the parties are scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on their motions on October 4.
Tuesday’s decision came a day after Fonseca’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the trial could not fail because police had seized a television that could have been the cause of the fire.
“The evidence demonstrates a complete disregard for the government’s obligation to preserve evidence that all of the state’s investigators/experts knew would play a significant role in determining the cause of the fire and defending Fonseca. By choosing not to preserve the television for lab examination and preservation, they acted in bad faith and deprived Fonseca of the opportunity to examine this important evidence. The undisputed facts require the court to find that the government’s failure to preserve the potentially useful evidence amounts to bad faith,” her attorneys wrote.
Their lawyers said last week that the motion was being filed as a contingency plan in case the deal was not accepted.
In Wisconsin, children ages 10 to 16 are most often tried in adult court for manslaughter. Her attempt to have the case transferred to juvenile court was denied.
