Calif. Man Set House on Fire, Killing Niece, 2, Nephew, 5, and His Own Dad: Police

Sergio Rivera-Vega is charged with murder and arson causing great bodily injury.

A California man is accused of setting his relatives’ home on fire, killing his own father as well as his young niece and nephew.

Firefighters in Richmond, a Bay Area city in Contra Costa County, responding to a residential fire on 15th Street at about 8:16 p.m. on Aug. 18, notified that another fire had started just two houses away, Richmond Police wrote in a press release.

At the second house, they found a 47-year-old man, a 33-year-old woman, a 5-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl with fire-related injuries. The man succumbed to his injuries at the scene while the boy died at the hospital, per the release.

In Aug. 20, police said the young girl had also succumbed to her injuries, Lieutenant Joseph England with the Richmond Police tells PEOPLE. The woman is still in the hospital in critical condition.

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Richmond Police eventually located 32-year-old Sergio Rivera-Vega, who lived at the home, and took him into custody, per the release. He is charged with murder and arson causing great bodily injury.

At an Aug. 19 press conference, Lt. England said the adult male was Rivera-Vega’s father and the adult female was his sister. The two children were his nephew and niece, he said.

None of the victims have been officially identified, but family members who spoke to KTVU identified the father as Jose Rivera.

“My brother, he’s a very, very special, very nice person,” Rivera’s brother told KTVU. “Anybody comes asking for something, he always says yes.”

The boy was named Andrew and the girl Joline, the outlet reported.

Police have not yet publicly established a potential motive.

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