LAWRENCE — Wilson Duran says he can't bear to watch a fire anymore — even on television — because it revives the nightmare of his 2-month-old daughter, who died in a 2003 blaze.
"Whenever I see a fire, I just leave. It's hard to watch because I start thinking about Angelic, who would have turned 5 in February had she lived," the 32-year-old Essex Street barber said last night as he sat on the couch of his Auburn Street home, reflecting on the tragic death.
"It's a horrible thing that changed my life. But I feel a little bit better today, knowing that the guy who did this is never going to hurt somebody again," said Duran, who yesterday attended the sentencing of the Lawrence man convicted of setting the fire that killed his daughter and ex-girlfriend Matilda Medina, 26.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro sentenced Harry Guzman, 27, formerly of 197 West St., to life in prison. A federal jury convicted him in January of arson in connection with the April 3, 2003 fire.
Federal prosecutors presented evidence that Guzman, either on his own or assisting somebody else, set the fire on the rear porch of the building at 3 a.m. while residents were sleeping.
Most of the residents evacuated the three-decker, including Medina's 3-year-old daughter, Dargeline Duran. But the mother and infant died of carbon monoxide poisoning while trapped in their third-story bedroom.
Guzman's lawyer, Charles McGinty, argued that the jury had found his client acted as a lookout for another man but didn't set the fatal fire.
Duran said he was disappointed that Guzman showed no remorse and did not apologize to the relatives of Medina and her child.
"I think maybe if he had showed some feeling and apologized for what he had done, the judge may not have given him life," Duran said last night.
"He (Guzman) had apologized for the outburst at his trial (when the jury convicted him). He never apologized to the family. So, I think the judge gave him life because he got mad for (Guzman) not owning up to it. Today I feel good because I asked God to give him what he deserves. If you do something wrong, you have to pay for it," Duran said.
He said he initially had doubts about Guzman and whether it is possible that somebody else set the deadly blaze. But after sitting for two weeks in a federal courtroom in Boston earlier this year, Duran said he's convinced of Guzman's guilt.
"His mom came to my barbershop and told me he's innocent and asked me to do something to help him," Duran said.
"But he says he was there with another person who set the fire. Who is this other person? And he has a history of setting fires. Yes, I believe justice was done today," he said.
One of Medina's relatives, who spoke with a reporter last night by cell phone from Duran's home, said her family is happy with the trial's outcome.
"We're glad he got life," said Alex DeJesus. "It's not going to bring Matilda back. At least there's some justice done at the trial."
Dargeline Duran, who is now 8, lives with her grandmother, Margarita Medina DeJesus, and other family members in Allentown, Pa.
Though his niece was 3 at the time of the tragedy and was rescued by a neighbor, she retains bad memories from the fire, according to Alex DeJesus.
"She misses her mom and wonders where her mom is sometimes. She misses her sister, too," he said.
"At night, she cries when she goes to bed sometimes. It's a sad story. There are certain dates when she misses her mom a lot — like on Mother's Day, Christmas or her birthday. She always wonders why her mom is not here. We try to explain to her she's in a better place," DeJesus said.
Dargeline Duran, who is now a second-grader, continues to visit her father in Lawrence. He remains a part of her life.
Wilson Duran said he likes to watch the news on television but has flashbacks and thinks of Angelic every time a report of a fire is broadcast on the news.
Each time he leaves his home, he takes care to make sure his own home is free of fire hazards.
"I always check the coffee machine to make sure it's not on. I check the stove to make sure it's OK, too," Duran said.
Along with the tragedy, he has warm feelings toward people in the community who helped his family in the wake of the tragedy.
"I just have to thank the Red Cross (of the Merrimack Valley) and Father Jorge Reyes (a priest at St. Mary Inmaculada Concepcion Church in Lawrence) for all they did. I will always remember their support," he said.
Prosecutors said the fatal fire was the third in a series of nine arson fires that occurred within a two-block radius of Guzman's West Street home between March 31 and June 9, 2003. Guzman was also charged in federal court with setting the June 9 fire.
The judge ordered Guzman to pay $350,000 in restitution to the insurance company that reimbursed owners of 48-50 Manchester St. — the site of the fatal fire — and a total of $30,000 to two tenants.
The prosecution of Guzman landed in federal courts under interstate commerce laws because the two apartment buildings were insured by out-of-state companies. His federal indictment capped a 14-month multiagency probe that local investigators called the most intense they have ever worked, needing thousands of hours from 20-plus officers who tracked and interviewed witnesses from as far as New Jersey and Maine.
