GRAND RAPIDS (WWJ) - A Grand Rapids man who had been burning trash and leaves in a pit close to his home has been found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter after his wife and three kids died in a house fire.
The jury in Kent County went into deliberations on Friday, June 17 and came back less than an hour and a half later with a guilty verdict for 40-year-old Robert Scales, reported MLive.
According to prosecutors, Scales had been burning debris in a fire pit roughly six feet from his family home on Dawes Avenue on Feb. 4 2020 when he left for work.
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A house fire broke out at the home later that day and killed his wife, 35-year-old Wanedia Scales and three boys, Xavier Woleab, 15, Robert Scales Jr., 14, and Elijah Scales, 10.
Investigators said the cause of the fire appeared to have started from embers still burning in the pit -- they believe wind blew the burning ash into a mattress up next to the house where it started the fatal blaze.
Scales was out on bond during the trial, but upon receiving the guilty verdict on Friday, he was taken to the Kent County Jail.
He is due to be sentenced on Aug. 25.
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