2 years in prison for man whose infant died in fire pit

A Federal Way man charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of his 7-month-old son in a backyard fire pit was sentenced today to just under two years in prison and deportation to his native Mexico.

Alberto Rios, 39, pleaded guilty to the charge in August.

At Rios' sentencing hearing today, his wife, to no avail, begged the judge not to condemn their family to more suffering by sentencing her husband to prison.

According to an earlier statement, Rios said on the night of June 21 he and his wife, Maria Santana, hosted a party at their home to celebrate the completion of a construction job. During the celebration, he drank six to nine beers, according to that statement.

After guests left, Rios took the couple's son, Diego Alberto Rios-Santana, and their 4-year-old daughter outside to the fire pit. They settled in, and he tucked the baby between his arm and chest, Rios said.

Rios said he fell asleep with Diego in his arms.

When he awoke around midnight, his daughter and infant son were gone. Rios said he ran inside and found his daughter but not his son. He ran back outside and that's when he found the child in the fire pit, he said in the statement.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office said Diego died of smoke inhalation and burns to his entire body.

Attorneys had said that Rios could be deported after his sentencing or could be made to serve his sentence first. Rios, who has used different aliases and birth dates in the past, already has been deported to Mexico three times — in 1994, 1996 and 2001, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said. He also has several prior drug-related convictions, according to court documents.