The little girl, found burnt in a fire in Vladislavovo, was dead a month earlier.
These new revelations were announced by the district prosecutor of Varna, Krasimir Konov, for “24 Chasa” regarding the case of an apartment fire, in which it was initially reported that two small children had died.
The case dates back to October 9, 2021, when at around 10:30 p.m. neighbors reported a burning apartment in the Vladislav Varnenchik district of Varna, block 406, entrance 7. When the fire was extinguished, it was found that there were two deceased children in the apartment – 4 years old and less than a year old.
In the course of the investigation, an ominous discovery was made – the older child did not die in the fire, but had been dead a month before. It was in a room of the apartment, covered with different blankets, this was confirmed by Krasimir Konov.
“Unfortunately, given the condition of the body, the cause of death of 4-year-old Mariela cannot be determined,” revealed the district prosecutor of Varna.
For 30 days, her father Emil, the woman with whom he lived on a family basis – Martina, and her son Denis, who was not even a year old at the time, lived together in the small apartment in the outermost neighborhood.
Martina J. and Emil H. were brought to criminal liability for complicity in arson with significant property damage and subsequent death. They are currently at liberty due to the expiration of the term for their detention.
The case is closed, I expect it to be submitted to the prosecutor’s office these days for a decision on the merits. The causes of the fire, according to the collected evidence, concern arson due to carelessness, a candle left unattended in the children’s room, where there were many easily flammable things – paper, synthetics, clothes, vials, the district prosecutor of Varna also said.
At the beginning of September, the social services visited the improvised family at the request of the mother of 4-year-old Mariela, they spoke with the child, but they did not find anything wrong that would make them take any measures.
The mother lived abroad, left her daughter with her grandmother, but not long after, Emil took her home. The two did not litigate, parental rights were not awarded to any of them by a court decision.
The supervising prosecutor must decide whether to prosecute Martina and Emil for Mariela’s death.
The investigating police officers and the supervising prosecutor put a lot of effort into the case, used all possible methods under the Code of Criminal Procedure, expert examinations were carried out by various specialists, including in Sofia. Unfortunately, questions remained that we could not find answers to, such as the cause of this child’s death. Which is an obstacle to do any illegal actions regarding him, added Konov.
