The father of two young girls who perished with their pets in a Christmastime residential fire in Murrieta pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges.
Adam Joseph Keenan, 43, and his wife, Stacey Jo Hales, 46, both of Murrieta, are accused of causing the blaze that claimed the lives of Emma Keenan, 12, and Abby Keenan, 11, in December.
Adam Keenan is charged with three counts of child cruelty resulting in great bodily injury or death and one count of being under the influence of controlled substances.
The defendant was arraigned Tuesday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Judith Clark, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for March 25 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
Keenan, who was taken into custody last week during a traffic stop in Lake Elsinore, is being held in lieu of $160,000 bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
Hales is charged with two counts of arson resulting in great bodily injury or death, one count of arson to an inhabited structure resulting in great bodily injury or death, three counts of child cruelty, one count of animal abuse and one count of being under the influence of controlled substances, with a sentence-enhancing allegation of victimizing multiple people in an act of arson.
She’s free on a $160,000 bond and is scheduled for arraignment on April 14.
“Investigators determined there was sufficient evidence to establish probable cause that Hales and Keenan were criminally responsible for the fire and resulting deaths of the juveniles and animals,” according to a Murrieta Police Department statement last week.
The blaze erupted shortly before 5 a.m. on Dec 20 in the couple’s mobile home in the 41000 block of Knight Drive, near Adams Avenue.
“Upon arrival, first responders found the home, carport, three vehicles, two outbuildings and a large pine tree fully engulfed in flames,” according to the police department.
Murrieta Fire & Rescue personnel worked for nearly an hour to knock down the blaze, and during a post-containment search of the residence, they discovered the two sisters and “multiple household pets” dead, police said.
The parents suffered various injuries, along with their other daughter, Ashley Keenan, all of whom escaped the flames. Hales suffered damage to her eyesight, according to published reports.
Authorities did not identify the specific origin of the fire, though the criminal complaint suggested both parents were allegedly strung out on drugs at the time.
Neither defendant has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.