CITRUS HEIGHTS, Calif. — A brazen and heartless attack caught on a security camera has left a Northern California family devastated just weeks before welcoming their newborn son.
On June 30, three teenage girls approached a home on the 7700 block of Bierston Street in Citrus Heights and threw a lit firecracker through a bedroom window directly into what had been lovingly prepared as a nursery for an unborn baby. The fire ignited a mattress and quickly filled the room with flames and thick smoke.
The entire shocking incident was recorded on the family’s security camera. In the footage, two of the girls can be seen near the front of the house. One lights the firecracker and hurls it toward the window, producing a visible spark and flash. The girls linger briefly near the porch area before departing the scene.
Firefighters from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District responded quickly and contained the blaze to the nursery. No one was injured, but the damage was total inside the targeted room.
Every item prepared for the baby, the crib, blankets, sheets, bottles, and other essentials, was destroyed or rendered unusable by soot and fire damage. The rest of the home suffered significant smoke damage.
The expectant parents, Anthony Cadena and Leslie Morgan, were preparing for the arrival of their son Noah in less than two weeks. Cadena was home at the time and used a garden hose to fight the fire through the window until help arrived. Morgan, who was not home, received an alert from the security camera.
“This whole baby’s room is torched. It’s done,” Cadena said. “All the rooms in the house are covered in soot… everything.”
Morgan described the moment she realized what had happened: “Seeing someone actually do that to someone’s house… they saw it was a baby room… just to see that these girls just don’t care about anything… it’s unbelievable, honestly, that they would do something like that.”
Reports indicate the attack was not random. The girls had reportedly been bullying the family’s teenage daughter. The assault escalated a prior disagreement into this dangerous act targeting the family home.
Citrus Heights police quickly identified and arrested all three juvenile suspects. They now face multiple felony charges, including aggravated arson, arson, burglary, and conspiracy.
The family has expressed forgiveness while hoping the girls face real consequences and learn from the incident. “Our family forgives these girls because that’s what we do,” Morgan said. “We’re not holding a grudge against them… I do hope that something happens to change their perspective. We just hope they learn their lesson from this.
”The community has rallied around the family as they attempt to replace everything for their newborn. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help with the unexpected costs of rebuilding the nursery and cleaning the home.
This disturbing case highlights the senseless violence some young people are willing to commit, even targeting an innocent unborn child’s space. The video evidence leaves little doubt about what occurred, and authorities are ensuring the suspects are held accountable under the law.
As the family works to recover and prepare for their son’s arrival, many are left asking the same question posed by those who saw the footage: How low do you have to go to target a baby’s nursery? The investigation remains active as prosecutors review the case against the three juveniles.
