A Buena Park man arrested in connection with the fireworks-related death of an 8-year-old girl on the Fourth of July has been identified.
Officers with the Buena Park Police Department responded to the 8000 block of Cornflower Circle at around 9:45 p.m. and saw terrified family members carrying the victim, later identified as Jasmine Nguyen, into the home.
Officers immediately began administering life-saving measures to the young girl who was suffering what was described as “critical injuries consistent with a fireworks-related explosion,” before she was rushed to University of California, Irvine hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Authorities noted that that BPPD officers were already in the neighborhood after “seeing a large quantity of fireworks detonate in the area.”
Buena Park does allow fireworks that are labeled safe and sane, though all aerial fireworks are illegal in both the city and the state of California, BPPD Lt. Jon-Michael Shaddow told KTLA.
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Stringer footage shows the scene where an 8-year-old girl was killed by illegal, misfired fireworks in Orange County. July 2025. (OC Hawk) -
Stringer footage shows the scene where an 8-year-old girl was killed by illegal, misfired fireworks in Orange County. July 2025. (OC Hawk) -
Stringer footage shows the scene where an 8-year-old girl was killed by illegal, misfired fireworks in Orange County. July 2025. (OC Hawk)
A preliminary investigation reportedly revealed that a neighbor, now identified as Earl Decastro, set off a “large illegal fireworks display” on the street that somehow misfired or failed, sending fireworks up the driveway of the home where Jasmine was.
The misfired fireworks, according to Lt. Shaddow, appeared to detonate additional fireworks near the young girl that were also likely illegal, with the 8-year-old caught in the middle of all the explosions.
“It’s traumatic,” he said. “I can only imagine what the family is going through. I can only imagine what the officers are going through, especially the one who took control of the scene and had to do life-saving measures.”
While the exact cause of Jasmine’s death has not been released by the coroner yet, Shaddow said her injuries appeared to be primarily caused by traumatic impact amid the multiple explosions.
Decastro was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and was later released on $25,000 bail. He has yet to be charged by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, which is waiting for the case to be filed by the police department.
