VENTURA : Man Pleads Innocent in Killing of Girl, 2

A Ventura man accused of setting an apartment building fire that killed a 2-year-old girl last month pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a charge of first-degree murder with special circumstances, authorities said.

Calvin Michael Mitchell also pleaded not guilty to two charges of arson during his arraignment in Ventura County Municipal Court. Mitchell could face the death penalty if convicted of murder with special circumstances in the fire that killed toddler Sarah Galka on March 24.

However, the district attorney’s office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Ellison said. The special circumstance is murder committed during an arson, Ellison said.

Mitchell, 44, is being held in Ventura County Jail on $500,000 bail, a jail spokesman said.

Mitchell allegedly started the fire because he was angry with his former girlfriend, who lived across the hall from the Ventura apartment where the little girl died.

Sarah died of smoke inhalation, authorities said. The fire also injured Sarah’s mother, Lainie Galka; a roommate, Arthur Tyrone Finnegan and 20-month-old Cynthia Anderson, whom Galka was baby-sitting at the time. The three were treated at hospitals and released, according to hospital spokesmen.

The other tenants escaped unharmed. Mitchell’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 3.