Woman gets nearly 4 years for Newport motel fire that killed 4

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) – A woman who started a fire last year that killed four people at a coastal Oregon motel has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide and reckless burning.
 
Newport Police Chief Jason Malloy said investigators determined that 39-year-old Rebecca Sinclair of Toledo, Oregon, was staying on the bottom floor of the City Center Motel when she dropped a lit cigarette on her bed. The fire spread when she eventually opened her door to seek help, destroying the motel and damaging cars in the parking lot.
 
Firefighters found the bodies of four people – couples from Portland and Springfield – in two second-floor rooms.
 
Charges of second-degree manslaughter were dropped in Tuesday’s plea agreement.