Queens Man Charged in Arson Killing Four

A Queens man faces multiple murder charges after prosecutors accused him of deliberately setting a fire in a Flushing residential building last month, killing four people in what authorities described as a random act stemming from job-related anger. Roman Amatitla, 38, was arraigned Thursday in Queens Criminal Court and ordered held without bail following the March 16 blaze at a mixed-use property near College Point Boulevard and Avery Avenue.

Prosecutors detailed how Amatitla, who had no known connection to the building or its occupants, entered and exited the structure several times that afternoon. Surveillance video captured him purchasing matches and a beer at a nearby gas station, stealing another beer, and returning to the first-floor stairwell, where he lit a piece of paper and placed it on a pile of trash around 12:30 p.m., according to the criminal complaint. Investigators said he then stood across the street, drinking beer as flames and smoke spread, watching residents attempt to escape.

The fire claimed the lives of Sihan Yang, a 3-year-old girl; Chengri Cui, 49; Shin Chie, 61; and Hong Zhao, 64. Yang, Cui, and Chie were found unconscious inside the building and...