Man avoids jail for accidental deadly fire

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A 26-year-old man will not go to jail for accidentally igniting his mother's mattress, resulting in her death, a judge in Lehigh County, Pa., said.

Lehigh County Judge James T. Anthony sentenced Chad Matthew Lever, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, to two years probation for the Feb. 3 death of his 47-year-old mother, Lisa House, The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa., reported Wednesday.

Lever faced as much as five years in prison on the criminal charge.

Lehigh County First Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa said Lever did not mean to kill his mother when he used a lighter underneath her bed in an attempt to locate her cat.

''We don't believe that incarceration would serve anyone,'' Luksa said Monday.

Lever, who had no criminal record prior to the incident, unsuccessfully attempted to rescue his mother from her bedroom after the mattress, and then the room, were engulfed by fire.

The Morning Call said Lever served as the primary caregiver for his mother, who had Lou Gehrig's disease.