Buena Park Man Charged With Felony a Year After Illegal Fireworks Killed a Girl, 8

A Fourth of July celebration that turned deadly on a Buena Park street has led to a felony charge, nearly a year after the fact.

What happened

On the night of July 4, 2025, a man set up a large quantity of illegal fireworks in the street outside a home on the 8000 block of Cornflower Circle in Buena Park, the Buena Park Police Department said. The display malfunctioned, with fireworks misfiring toward a nearby residence and igniting other devices, ABC7 reported. An 8-year-old girl who was visiting was struck and gravely injured, and was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to NBC Los Angeles. The Herald is not naming the child. No other serious injuries were reported.

The charge

The man, identified by authorities as a 46-year-old Buena Park resident, was arrested that night on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and later released on bail as the case went to the Orange County District Attorney's Office for review. Nearly a year later, prosecutors have filed a felony charge against him, the Los Angeles Times reported. He has not been convicted, and is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Involuntary manslaughter is a felony in California that can carry a state-prison term.

What made the fireworks illegal

Investigators from the Buena Park police, the Orange County Fire Authority and a sheriff's bomb squad concluded that many of the devices that detonated were illegal. Buena Park, like many Orange County cities, permits only "Safe and Sane" fireworks for private use — ground-based devices that do not explode or shoot into the air. The fireworks in this case, authorities said, went well beyond that category.

A warning before the holiday

The timing of the charge, days before the 2026 Fourth of July, comes as fire and law-enforcement officials across Southern California renew warnings about the dangers of illegal aerial fireworks, which they say have grown more common and more powerful. Illegal fireworks injure hundreds of people in California each year, and the 2025 holiday weekend brought multiple fireworks-related deaths in the region. Under state law, possessing or using illegal fireworks is generally a misdemeanor, but it can rise to a felony when the devices cause serious injury or death, and violators can face steep fines.

Officials are again urging residents to leave fireworks to licensed public shows and to report illegal fireworks to police or fire agencies — this time, with a Buena Park family's loss as the reason.