Man accused of killing two babies in a house fire says ‘I did something stupid’ in recorded jail call

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — The Fresno County jury heard Filimon Hurtado’s own words Wednesday, charged with double homicide and arson, as prosecutors played a recorded jailhouse call. Action News cannot play the recording, but can report portions of the transcript.

“I made a mistake,” Hurtado said from the Fresno County Jail. “I did something stupid.”

“There’s no turning back,” Hurtado’s father replied. “The little babies are gone… I don’t know what the hell you were thinking… You’ve crossed the line,” the father said.

Hurtado asked: “Do you hate me?”

“You’re a young boy and you threw it all away,” his father responded in part.

“Is that a true and accurate prison call that you made corresponding to a conversation with the defendant and his father that took place on or about July 16, 2022?” prosecutor Daniel Walters asked the investigator on the stand. “Yes,” said Danielle Isaac, an investigator with the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors say Hurtado set fire to this family home in west central Fresno in May 2022. The blaze killed Hurtado’s 1-year-old niece and 5-month-old nephew.

“The fire… where the kids are, everything looks black,” said Fresno Fire Department investigator Nathan Dansby. “Even with the kids on top, the mattress is black.”

The fire also injured the children’s mother, who was engulfed in flames as she ran across the street to get help from a neighbor.

Hurtado has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder and arson. His public defenders say Hurtado was insane and not taking his bipolar disorder medication during the spring of 2022 when he set the deadly fire.

On Wednesday, Hurtado’s attorneys pressed investigator Isaac on how much the recorded phone call actually reveals about Hurtado.

“Looking at this phone call, who would you say is doing most of the talking?” asked public defender Roy Park. “Probably the father,” Isaac replied.

“And most of Filimon’s answers are something like ‘yes,'” Park asked. “Yes,” Isaac replied.

Wednesday was the second time prosecutors used Hurtado’s words in court.

On Tuesday, jurors heard Hurtado describe how he was “kidnapped,” “cloned” and “teleported” in a video he posted on YouTube a day before the fire.

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