Tijuana Nearly two years after a fire swept through an orphanage killing six children and one adult, the couple who directed it was arrested, accused by state authorities of causing the deaths.
The two, Luis Eduardo García García, 39, and Xóchitl Zárate Medina, 33, were charged Thursday with the aggravated homicide of seven people, according to officials from the state Attorney Generals Office.
The fire occurred at dawn on Feb. 25, 2009 in a house in the eastside neighborhood of Sánchez Taboada. Six children under the age of six and a 23-year-old woman died.
According to authorities, Zárate Medina said that the house had sheltered victims of domestic violence, abused children and children of drug addicts since December of 2008. The home went by the name Lluvia de Misericordia, or Rain of Mercy.
She as well as her husband, Luis Eduardo García, were responsible for the home, feeding those who lived there and raising funds for its operation.
The woman said that the home did not have security measures nor had been inspected by the fire department or the child welfare agency known as DIF as required, state authorities said.
They did not reveal the cause of the fire.
The couple was taken to the state prison in the La Mesa district to await their judicial proceeding.
Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
