Woman denies setting fatal South Boston fire
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
Nicole Chuminski adamantly denies setting a fire in a South Boston rowhouse last month that killed two young sisters and witnesses will exonerate her of murder and arson charges, her lawyer said today in court.
 Nicole Chuminski |
Through a romantic relationship with the girls' mother, Chuminski got to know 14-year-old Acia Johnson and her 3-year-old sister, Sophia, and would have never done anything to harm them, according to her attorney, William White.
"She has never wavered in the love she felt for those children," White said during his client's arraignment in South Boston Municipal Court.
Chuminski, her eyes red with tears, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of arson. She was ordered held on $1 million cash bail.
 Sophia, 3, and Acia Johnson, 14 |
The girls' mother, Anna Reisopoulos, 34, glared at Chuminski during the hearing, giving her former lover cold stares through eyes rimmed with tears. Chuminski was arrested Friday for a crime that police and prosecutors allege stemmed from a bitter lovers' quarrel. Chuminski had been dating Reisopoulos for about four months before the fire, set in the early morning hours of April 6, authorities said on Friday. The sisters died from burns and smoke inhalation in a third-floor closet, where their remains were found.
David Fredette, an assistant Suffolk district attorney, said in court today that Chuminski and Reisopoulos had attended a wedding of one of Chuminski's relatives in Weymouth in the hours before the fire and got into a heated exchange when Chuminski accused Reisopoulos of stealing a wallet from one of her relatives.
Chuminski allegedly struck Reisopoulos, Fredette said. Later, witnesses saw Chuminski outside Reisopoulos's West Sixth Street home, yelling and banging on the door, he said. Investigators believe that after they returned to Boston, Chuminski went to Reisopoulos's house about 3 a.m., doused it with an unidentified accelerant, and ignited it, according to two public safety officials briefed on the investigation.
Fredette said that when she set the fire, Chuminski knew the house was occupied and gave no regard for the other families living in the adjoining rowhouses.
“These acts were not only cruel but cowardly in the way that they were done,” Fredette said.
The fire quickly swept through the house and up into the attic, trapping the girls, who had been sleeping, said the officials, who spoke to the Globe Friday on condition of anonymity.
Conley said investigators were able to match accelerant from the fire scene with traces of an accelerant found on Chuminski's clothes after the fire. That evidence, combined with witness statements and testimony before a grand jury, was enough to warrant Chuminski's arrest, Conley said.
Police questioned Chuminski for several hours the day of the fire but did not have enough evidence to arrest her at that time, according to the two public safety officials.
Reisopoulos was hospitalized for more than a week after the fire, but recovered. Her son, Raymond Johnson Jr., Acia's twin, also survived.
Reisopoulos said Friday night that she was grateful that police had made an arrest in the fire. "It's still not enough because my daughters are not here," she said.
Since the fire, Reisopoulos said, she has been staying with friends and living in fear, afraid that Chuminski might try to kill her. Reisopoulos took out a restraining order against her on Monday after Chuminski left repeated messages on her cellphone voicemail.
In the order, filed in South Boston District Court, Reisopoulos blamed Chuminski for the deaths of her children, saying she "came to my home at about 3 and threw a Molotov bomb at my house at 154 West Sixth Street, setting it on fire and killing my 2 daughters Acia age 14 and Sophia age 3."
The order identifies Chuminski as her romantic partner and bars Chuminski from having any contact with Reisopoulos or her son.
If convicted, Chuminski could face life in prison on each murder charge and up to 20 years on the arson charge.
