FLUSHING, Queens (PIX11) — A fired worker, overcome with rage, is accused of sparking the deadly Queens fire that killed four people, including a 3-year-old child, prosecutors said.
Roman Amatitla, 38, told investigators he was angry about losing his food processing job when he allegedly torched a multi-floor Flushing building on March 16, according to the criminal complaint.
“This was really pandemonium. What led up to the fire is really quite disturbing,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Thursday after the suspect’s arraignment.
Prosecutors said Amatitla allegedly got a beer and some matches from a nearby gas station and lit a piece of paper on fire on top of the garbage in the first-floor hallway at 132-05 Avery Ave. and watched it burn as he drank some beers.
Katz called it “one of the greatest crimes this borough has seen in a long time.”
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Roman Amatitla, 38, appears in Queens Criminal Court for allegedly setting a deadly fire in Flushing on March 16, 2026. (Credit: POOL PHOTS/NY DAILY NEWS)
Five people jumped from different windows to escape the four-alarm blaze. Three-year-old Sihan Yang, Chie Shin Ming, and Chengri Cui, 50, were found dead after firefighters extinguished the flames, authorities said. They died of smoke inhalation.
Hong Zhao died of head and bodily injuries after jumping out of the window.
“It was so traumatic and so painful that he jumped out the window and died from his fractures,” Katz said.
The other victims who leapt to safety were hospitalized with serious injuries, including broken ribs, a traumatic brain injury, and severe burns, according to court documents.
An FDNY lieutenant and a firefighter were also injured when a stairwell collapsed, sending them plunging into the basement.
Amatitla had no connection to the victims, but he told investigators he knew he was going to harm people.
The alleged firebug had gotten into a fight at work before he was fired from his job and was looking for a way to relieve his anger, authorities said.
Firefighters respond to a blaze in Flushing, Queens on Monday, March 16, 2026. (Credit: FDNY)
The Queens resident was charged with multiple counts of murder, arson, and assault. He pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
“A charge is not a conviction. We intend to vigorously represent him,” the defendant’s lawyer, Vivian Cedeño, said.
Mira Wassef is an award-winning reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She joined the PIX11 News digital team in 2022. See more of her work here.
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