Mother of 2 children killed in Richmond house fire dies days later

By Brandon Downs

A 33-year-old mother whose children died in a house fire in Richmond earlier this week has died, bringing the fire’s death toll up to four. 

The Richmond Fire Department said the woman was rushed to the hospital after a fire at a home on 15th Street east of the Richmond City Center on Thursday. On Saturday, fire crews said she died. 

Crews said a second house fire immediately followed just two doors away on the same street that was unrelated to the arson. 

Police said the fire was intentionally set and that the suspect, 32-year-old Sergio Rivera Vega, was arrested at the scene of a second fire on charges of murder and arson causing great bodily injury. 

Rivera Vega’s 47-year-old father and his 5-year-old nephew were killed in the fire. A 2-year-old who died was his niece and the 33-year-old woman was his sister.