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Father Accused In Bronx Fire, Fatal Stabbing Dies At Hospital

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police said the father accused in a fatal Bronx fire and stabbing died Wednesday night after succumbing to his injuries at Westchester Medical Center.

Vincente Cordero, 34, had been charged with murder and arson after his wife was found stabbed to death in an apartment fire that also left the couple's 1-year-old daughter dead.

Police said Kety Sanchez, 30, was stabbed by Cordero, who then lit the apartment on fire in an apparent murder-suicide attempt, 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported.

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1010 WINS' Al Jones with more details on the Bronx tragedy

Police officials initially thought Cordero had died in the fire.  He was revived at the hospital before passing away Wednesday night.

Chopper 2HD over the scene of the fire
Chopper 2HD over the scene of the fire

The 1-year-old girl, Keity Cordero, was pronounced dead at the scene after she was found face-down in a crib in the bedroom.  Sanchez was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital.

It happened just before 8 a.m. Wednesday in a fifth floor apartment of the six-story building on the corner of 183rd and Morris Avenue. Firefighters arrived at the scene in three minutes and brought the blaze under control in about a half-hour.

"They were very heavy.  It looked like the whole apartment was going to take off.  The windows hadn't failed yet," said FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Kevin Butler.

Fire officials said two children had already gone to school and a grandmother was able to get out.

"We got into the apartment and we got into the living room which is immediately outside that bedroom that was fully involved," Butler said.

Neighbor Eric Carpio, 20, said he ran into the burning apartment but was unable to open the bedroom door.

"When I got to the bedroom, the bedroom door was locked," Carpio told CBS 2's John Slattery. "I just broke the door – when I broke the door was a lot of fire and smoke."

Carpio said the intense flames kept him from getting inside, and he could hear only a man, identified by neighbors as Vincente Cordero, screaming.

One woman said she is a sister of one of the two adults who perished.

"They're nice people, nice people, that's it," she said.

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