By Linda Cicoira — The injury on a Nelsonia man, who was found with two others in a house trailer fire last February, was self-inflicted.
Wilson L. Escalante-Perez, 24, died from a stab wound to the chest. His death was ruled a suicide, said Alvin Hopson, a spokesperson for the medical examiner’s office in Richmond.
The body of the man’s 3-year-old niece, Daniella Escalante-Gonzales, identified by her grandfather as Sophia Escalante, and her mother, Oraliz Alejandra Gonzalez-Miranda, 26, were also found in the remains of the fire. Their deaths were ruled homicide. All three were stabbed to death before the fire was set, an official said.
The child died from stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. The woman was stabbed in the chest.
The fire was reported to authorities at 10 a.m., Feb. 1, at Johnson Court, which is right off Lankford Highway. The other three children who lived at the residence were at school. Other residents of the trailer were the grandfather, Feliciano Ortiz, and his wife, Celestina Perez, mother of Wilson Escalante-Perez, and Yener Perez, the father of the girl. They were not at home when the fire was reported and said they work at Tyson Foods. The residence was destroyed.
