A New York father has been charged with murder, arson and reckless endangerment after his 3 year old daughter, Zoey, died following a car fire in Queens.
The father, Martin, was charged about two weeks after firefighters pulled Zoey from a burning Audi parked in a residential Queens neighborhood. She was alive when she was rescued but later died from her injuries at Jamaica Hospital.
Police found Martin near the scene and took him into custody. A law enforcement source said he suffered burns to about 70 percent of his body and could not immediately make a statement because of his injuries. It was not clear whether he was inside the car with Zoey at some point, and investigators did not know her condition before the fire.
Sources told CNN that large chains were used to secure the doors from the inside during the fire, and that a propane tank and two gasoline cans were found in the trunk. According to those sources, investigators’ leading theory is that the fire was an attempt to kill both Zoey and himself. That theory has not been confirmed in court, and the charges are allegations.
Reports also say Martin and Zoey’s mother were in the middle of a bitter custody dispute and that each had filed domestic incident reports against the other. Martin had recently filed a complaint about her with the Administration for Children’s Services. No response from Martin about the charges was reported at the time of this story.
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