Mistrial Declared in Ariz. Firefighter's Death Trial
The jury deliberating the fate of the man accused of setting a warehouse fire that killed a Phoenix firefighter was dismissed after failing to reach a verdict Wednesday.
Maricopa Superior Court Judge Glenn Davis thanked and then dismissed the jury. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office will decide whether to retry Christopher Benitez on a murder charge in the death of firefighter Bret Tarver.
Benitez cried when the judge announced the jury was deadlocked. He was charged with first-degree murder and two counts of arson in the March 2001 fire at the Southwest Supermarket.
A status conference to decide what happens next is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 5. The state said it plans on retrying the case against Benitez.
Benetiz was a soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, when he was arrested in connection with the fire.
Prosecutors said Benitez was only 15 when he set fire to cardboard boxes outside Phoenix’s Southwest Supermarket in March 2001.
Arson investigators said an anonymous tip placed him at the scene right before the fire, and just days after he had been arrested there for stealing beer.
Phoenix fire investigators said the flames quickly spread to the grocery store where more than 100 firefighters rushed to get things under control.
Tarver, an eight-year veteran of the department, was overcome by smoke and flames and ran out of air.
He died and several other firefighters were also injured as the store’s ceiling caved in.
The fire department revamped its safety training and gear and has become a model for departments across the county in the wake of Tarver’s death.
One of the big changes was getting audible safety timers on air tanks that alert firefighters when whoever’s wearing them is immobile for an extended period of time.
Phoenix firefighters said their investigators never gave up on this case, even though it took eight years to make an arrest.
By the time investigators won an indictment, Benitez was serving in the Army in Iraq.
He was arrested when he came home to Texas in July 2009.
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