Family pleas answered in Lacey sentencing

Prior to Caleb Lacey's sentencing last Friday, relatives of the four victims he was convicted of killing in a Feb. 19, 2009, North Lawrence fire expressed their pain and anger in emotionally wrenching impact statements. Nassau County Court Judge Carter listened to the pleas from the Vanegas family, and then gave the 20-year-old Lacey the maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

The sentence came seven weeks after Lacey was convicted of setting the fire at a North Lawrence apartment that killed 46-year-old Morena Vanegas, her 19-year-old son, Saul Preza, and her daughters Susanna and Andrea Vanegas, 13 and 9. At the sentencing, the victims' family members wore white T-shirts displaying photos of Vanegas and her children.

In a videotaped impact statement, Edit Vanegas spoke in Spanish of the pain of no longer having his wife and children. There were also letters written by the surviving children as well as Morena Vanegas's mother and sister. Family members described how warm and caring Morena was, and the intelligence of her daughters — Susanna, who was mastering the violin and wanted to be a teacher someday, and Andrea, a dedicated soccer player who wanted to be a doctor.

"My life is not the same since I lost my daughter," Morena's mother, Yolanda Lurcios, wrote in her letter to Carter. "I'm feeling a big empty space in my heart."

"I am traumatized, and so are my children," Edit Vanegas said in his videotaped message, which was played in the Mineola courtroom. "I suffer every day."

Jose Borjas, Morena's son, wrote about how his mother always made an effort to cook a meal for him when he returned from night school classes. "My mother was a compassionate person," Borjas wrote. "She had a heart of gold."

In February a jury found Lacey guilty on counts of felony murder, second-degree manslaughter, second-degree arson and reckless endangerment — announcing the verdicts on Feb. 19, a year to the day after the fatal fire. When Lacey was about to be led away in handcuffs that day, he appeared to attempt to escape and was tackled by police officers, creating temporary chaos inside and outside the courtroom.

Before he was sentenced, Lacey apologized for his actions in court in February and claimed he was innocent. "When this tragedy happened, I felt horrible for the lives that were lost," he said, adding that he attended funerals for all the victims. "I will always pray for the family."

Lacey's attorney, Christopher Cassar, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the sentencing, and added that he would soon file an appeal. "This is a tragic day for everyone," Cassar said.

At the time of the fire, Lacey was a first-year probationary firefighter with the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department. Police said he started the fire by dousing the only stairwell in the two-story North Lawrence building with gasoline, setting it alight and then driving to the firehouse, planning to be a hero by responding to the scene to put out the flames.

During the trial, which lasted longer than two weeks, Nassau County Prosecutor Michael Canty argued that Lacey did not intend to kill anyone when he set the fire, but described the then 19-year-old as someone who was tired of being teased by friends for missing out on calls to big fires and who wanted to be a hero. Canty also presented several videos showing what appeared to be Lacey's car at the scene of the fire moments before it happened.

Lacey's father, the Rev. Richard Lacey of Outreach Community Church in Inwood, stood by his son when speaking to reporters outside court following the verdict. "We want the true criminal to be caught and pay for this crime," Lacey said.

In pre-trial hearings, Carter ruled that a tape of Lacey confessing to the crime produced by police would not be shown to the jury because of its poor sound quality, and that Detective Carl Re, who elicited the confession, could not testify about it because he continued to question Lacey after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.

Comments about this story? Nassaueditor@

liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 201.