U.S. AG approves death penalty in Cleveland fire case

CLEVELAND (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is allowing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against a Cleveland man accused of setting a fire that killed nine people.

Holder this week gave his approval, required from an attorney general before the death penalty can be sought in federal cases.

Antun Lewis was charged in federal court because the government subsidized the lease on the house where the fire occurred.

The May 2005 fire killed one adult and eight children at a birthday sleep over. Lewis is charged with arson, and the trial is set for December in Cleveland federal court.

Lewis told The Associated Press in a short handwritten note from prison last year that the victims were like family and he would never harm a child.