Venancio Veracruz Benitez | Homicide Watch Chicago

Man charged with murder for allegedly setting Heart of Chicago fire that killed Venancio Veracruz Benitez

Jeff Mayes — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 11:13:56 -0600

By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Thomas Stafford | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.

A man has been charged with setting a garage fire last fall in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood that left 59-year-old Venancio Veracruz Benitez dead.

Thomas Stafford, 23, faces counts of first-degree murder and aggravated arson for the Sept. 16, 2016, blaze in the 2100 block of West 21st Street, according to Chicago Police.

Firefighters found Benitez dead after they extinguished the fire that tore through a garage about 3 a.m., according to fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Five fires were set in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood Sept. 16, 2016, leaving a man dead at eight people displaced, police said. | NVP News

An autopsy at the time didn’t immediately rule on cause or manner of death, but authorities later determined Benitez died of smoke inhalation, and announced in November that his death had been deemed a homicide.

The fire that killed Benitez was among seven that night in the neighborhood that were intentionally set in garbage cans or near garage walls, authorities said. One extra-alarm fire at 2272 S. Blue Island Ave. spread from the back porch of a home and adjoining building, leaving 39 people homeless.

More than 100 firefighters were called to the series of arsons, sending one to a hospital with minor injuries, authorities said.

Venancio Veracruz Benitez | Facebook

Stafford was arrested a month after the fatal fire and charged with possession of a stolen vehicle in an unrelated case, court records show. He was convicted in December, and was serving a three-year sentence at the Lawrence Correctional Center in downstate Sumner when he was charged with murder and arson.

Stafford, of the 1700 block of West 18th Place, remains jin the Cook County Jail ailed on a $750,000 bond, records show. His next court date is March 9.

Man found dead after series of arson fires in Heart of Chicago identified as Venancio Veracruz Benitez

Jeff Mayes — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 16:34:15 -0500

A man found dead in a garage after a series of arson fires early Friday in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood has been identified as 59-year-old Venancio Veracruz Benitez, who lived on the block.

Seven fires were set in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood early Friday, leaving a man dead and 39 people displaced, police said. | NVP News

The fires were all set about 3 a.m. Friday, according to Chicago Police. There were “seven total fires, all starting in garbage cans or combustibles near garage walls,” Fire Media Director Larry Langford said.

Benitez, a mexican immigrant, was found unresponsive in a garage that was set on fire in the 2100 block of West 21st Street, according to Fire Media Affairs and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Benitez was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:34 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy did not rule on cause and and manner of death pending further studies, but police classified the death as a homicide.

Venancio Veracruz | Facebook

The other fires were reported in homes in the 2200 block of South Blue Island; and garages in the 1700 block of West 21st Street, the 2100 block of South Wood, and the 1800 block of West 21st Street, according to police.

The two-alarm fire at 2272 S. Blue Island spread to the back porch of a home and an adjoining building, leaving 39 people displaced, according to Fire Media.

No residents were injured in that blaze or the other garage fires, but one firefighter suffered minor injuries, Langford said.

Paul Foertsch, a Chicago Fire Department District Chief, told reporters the fires were all initially set in alley garbage cans but eventually spread to garages and homes.

He added that about 100 firefighters from across the city responded to the area.

The Chicago Police Bomb and Arson Unit is investigating.

“All the fires are suspected arsons,” Langford said. Investigators are “looking for possible video.”