By Julie O’Connor
The Star-Ledger
ELIZABETH, N.J. — Emilio Vasquez didn’t fit the stereotype of a homeless person, sprawled on a street corner, shaking a coffee cup for handouts.
The 20-year-old from Guatemala worked regular hours at a food packaging plant, until he lost his job in November, his mother said. After that, his life quickly spiraled downward into homelessness and a murder charge.
Without a job, he was soon evicted from his $500-a-month apartment in Elizabeth. He started living on the street, then tragedy struck.
On a cold January night, authorities said, Vasquez and another homeless man, JosxE9; Flores, 30, lit a fire in an abandoned building to keep warm. The fire in the pile of curtains they ignited grew out of control. As responding Elizabeth firefighter Gary Stephens stood behind a slow-moving firetruck, directing it back toward a hydrant, he was fatally struck by the vehicle.
Now Vasquez and Flores face charges of burglary, arson and murder — and possible sentences of 30 years to life in prison. Both are scheduled for a hearing Sept. 28.
Vasquez’s mother, who returned from a trip to Guatemala to find her son in jail, described him as a devout Christian who never intended to harm anyone.
“If he knew the consequences, he would have preferred to freeze to death than to hurt another person,” Enna Cervantes, 51, said in Spanish. “He is suffering because he feels bad about himself for how he acted.”
No action has been taken against the driver of the firetruck, who was “truly shaken” by the incident, Elizabeth Fire Chief Edward Sisk said. While results of an investigation have not yet been released, officials did not recommend any immediate corrective actions. The fire chief, Stephens’ wife, Natalie, and his brother, Bob Stephens, have declined to comment on the charges facing the two homeless men.
At the Elizabeth department, where Stephens had been a 28-year-veteran, the case elicits strong but mixed reactions, said Bill Lavin, an Elizabeth firefighter who heads the state Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association. Some firefighters view the homeless men as responsible for Stephens’ death, he said. Others are disturbed by the indictments.
Though Lavin said he believes the incident was also tragic for the homeless men, he added, “obviously, if the fires weren’t set, our lives wouldn’t be put in danger.”
Elizabeth officials say abandoned houses are routinely boarded-up and patrolled, but squatters still break in and light fires to cook or keep warm. Usually, it’s tough to catch the perpetrators, who disappear with their few belongings. Yet these two men sought medical treatment — Vasquez for burns on his hands and Flores for severe burns on his face. Police said Vasquez initially made up a tale to explain his burns, but later admitted he helped set the fire to keep warm.
Theodore J. Romankow, the Union County prosecutor, has said Vasquez and Flores must be held responsible for the firefighter’s death. The prosecutor declined to comment further on a pending trial, but said previously, “Had it not been for the actions of these two men, a very well-respected and loved member of the Elizabeth Fire Department might still be with us today. We will make sure these men are held accountable for their actions.”
Flores’ family could not be reached for an interview. Yet advocates for the homeless have spoken out on behalf of both indicted men, saying they are troubled by their murder charges and lack of shelter. A statewide survey this year showed a sharp increase in the number of adults who are homeless due to evictions. Many were reportedly living paycheck-to-paycheck but were pushed over the edge by the economic downturn.
“Why is a man lighting a fire in a house to stay warm?” asked Linda Flores-Tober, director of the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless. “Why aren’t people asking why this happened as opposed to blaming?”
Authorities said Flores, who is from El Salvador, and Vasquez are both undocumented, which means they are generally ineligible for social services such as sheltering. Undocumented immigrants are also less likely to seek help for fear of being picked up by immigration authorities, Flores-Tober said.
Before arriving in this country in July 2008, Vasquez had worked as a pastor in a poor neighborhood of Guatemala City, his mother said. Cervantes said she had hoped he and his older brother would someday return with their collective savings to Guatemala, where her other children live but jobs are scarce.
Initially, it had seemed possible. Through a temporary agency, the mother and sons were hired by the same factory. But the work dissolved at the end of November, when Cervantes left to visit her children in Guatemala. She could not afford to bring along Vasquez or his brother, and because of their illegal status, neither could collect unemployment. Vasquez’s brother left to hunt for work in Los Angeles. By the end of December, Cervantes said she had no word of Vasquez’s whereabouts.
“I feel like it’s my fault because I brought him here,” Cervantes said in Spanish of her son. “I felt I had abandoned him. He was practically lost here, he didn’t know anyone.”
Cervantes said she fears Vasquez will ultimately be deported. As he awaits a lengthy legal process, writing her long letters from jail, his mother offered a tearful appeal to Stephens’ family. Her son may have helped light the fire to keep warm, Cervantes said, but he wasn’t driving the firetruck.
“What I want to say to the wife of the firefighter is to please forgive my son,” she said. “He didn’t do this on purpose. He didn’t intend to leave you without a husband.”
Others simply argue there is little to gain from sentencing two homeless men to life in prison.
“Isn’t another cold night going to cause another homeless person to light a fire?” Flores-Tober asked. “Where is the change? What’s going to be different?”
Copyright 2009 Newark Morning Ledger Co.
All Rights Reserved