Rochester (WSYR-TV) -- A Rochester mother is admitting to setting a fire that killed four of her children earlier this year.
Bobbie Kugler’s guilty plea will add up to at least seven years in prison for arson and manslaughter.
As smoke claimed the lives of four children in February, investigators narrowed their focus to the mother who escaped. Months later, Bobbie Kugler's family believes she was pressured to accept a plea deal.
"She lost her kids. That is punishment right there enough. That's a prison sentence all by itself, losing her kids,” said Kugler’s father James Reavey.
"We support her 100 percent. We’re right beside her 100 percent,” said Kugler’s stepmother Hope Reavey.
Kugler reportedly claims she was drunk and had taken sleeping pills when she used incense to burn pictures of a boyfriend. After tossing the photos on a dresser, Kugler claimed she fell asleep. As part of the plea deal, she accepts charges of arson and manslaughter. Four counts of murder were dropped.
"She could have taken this to trial and took a chance at getting the 25 to life, but she figures she'll get it over with, get the seven years done so she can go back to her other kids,” James said.
Kugler’s Attorney Michael Lopez says, “This position is the fairest compromise between the possibilities of what could have happened after trial.”
"I cannot imagine how difficult that was for her today. But, we cannot forget the real reason that we are here is that those individuals are dead,” said Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Kyle Steinbeck.
The Reavey's are left absorbing the loss as family of the victims and the accused.
"It’s torture.There’s no holidays no more. We're not putting the Christmas tree up -- nothing, because it is torture."
Kugler’s sentencing is set for January 22. The children who were killed range in age from six to 14.
