Sleeping dad’s cigarette starts house fire that killed his kids, California cops say

A father from San Diego was sentenced on Jan. 8 to nearly 13 years in prison after police say he fell asleep with a lit cigarette while drunk, setting his house on fire and killing his two children.

Henry Lopez, 39, was convicted in September 2019 of “involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, and recklessly starting the fire” that killed his 7-year-old daughter Isabella and 10-year-old son Cristos, ABC 10 News reported.

A judge sentenced Lopez to 12 years and 8 months in prison, according to ABC 10 News.

“(The) defendant has completely and utterly failed to accept the consequences of his actions. These horrible deaths were completely avoidable. The defendant’s actions caused a lot of pain. Cristos and Isabella should both be with us today,” the judge said during sentencing.

Prosecutors say Lopez was drunk and fell asleep with a cigarette in his mouth, starting a fire on Oct. 28, 2017, NBC San Diego reported. His children were asleep and neighbors called 911 but, “The blaze was so intense, there was nothing they could do.”

Lopez’s attorney said during the trial that a “defective cell phone” probably caused the fire and there wasn’t evidence that the cigarette was the source, Fox 5 reported. Cigarette and cell phone remnants weren’t found in the fire.

Lopez told police that he didn’t smoke inside the house because his son had asthma, Fox 5 reported.

“I told you if you continued on this path of reckless behavior something bad was going to happen. And guess what, it did,” Nikia Lopez, his ex-wife, said at the sentencing hearing, ABC 10 reported. “Those kids are gone. You took my children.”