Orange County man charged after 8-year-old girl dies from firework injuries at 2025 Fourth of July party
An Orange County man was charged with involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday, nearly a year after an 8-year-old girl died from injuries suffered in an illegal fireworks explosion at a Fourth of July party in Buena Park.
In a news release shared by the Orange County District Attorney's Office, prosecutors said that Earl Decastro, 47, was charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Jasmine Nguyen on July 4, 2025. He was also charged with recklessly setting fire causing great bodily injury and the illegal possession of more than 100 pounds of dangerous fireworks.
"Decastro is accused of buying both legal and illegal fireworks to light at the party, including an illegal $400 firework 'cake' he bought from an unlicensed seller, which contained professional-grade explosives that require a permit or license to buy, store, transport, or use," the DA's release said.
Last year, Nguyen was at Decastro's Buena Park home with her mother and 7-year-old sister for a Fourth of July party, when prosecutors say that Decastro ignited the illegal "explosive grade" fireworks, which malfunctioned and began to shoot aerial mortar shells into the crowd at the party, which then struck a stack of fireworks next to Nguyen.
"Jasmine was sitting with her family next to a covered table that had additional dangerous unspent fireworks when the mortars shot into the crowd," the release said. "The partygoers ran into Decastro's home, but the unspent fireworks exploded near Jasmine before she could run to safety."
Prosecutors said that the fireworks "show" had gone on for more than an hour before the explosion.
Buena Park police attempted to revive Jasmine at the scene, but she was pronounced dead shortly after being taken to UCI Medical Center, prosecutors said.
CBS LA spoke with Jasmine's mother, Lan Doan, when the charges were announced. She said that her family will never look at the Fourth of July the same way again.
"It's getting a little emotional, because the day of the year is coming, the fireworks," Doan said. "I really miss her, because it's not the same. I feel like it's not the same silence, there's a silence that rings pretty deep around the house."
Even in the midst of their ongoing grief, she said that her family never wanted to press charges against Decastro because it was an accident. If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum sentence of 6 years in state prison.
"There is nothing accidental about buying and lighting illegal fireworks," said a statement from Orange County Todd Spitzer. "An eight-year-old little girl is dead and the man who killed her is going to be held responsible. A few seconds of fun is not worth a lifetime of trauma and the loss of a beautiful little girl who never had the chance to grow up."
