Mariah Thomas: Mom arrested for fatally burning infant after placing her in ‘oven instead of crib’
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: A mother from Missouri killed her one-month-old child by burning her in an oven, and she later told police that she thought the cooker was a crib.
The police called the scene in the Kansas City home "gruesome" after discovering Mariah Thomas' infant severely burned and unresponsive on Friday, February 9.
Mariah Thomas accused of putting her child's safety at risk
Thomas, who lives with her parents, is accused of putting a child's welfare in danger of death, KSHB reported. This is a class A felony.
“We appreciate all first responders who worked this scene and the prosecutors who went to the scene in order to issue these charges,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a written statement.
“We acknowledge the gruesome nature of this tragedy and our hearts are weighted by the loss of this precious life. We trust the criminal justice system to respond appropriately to these awful circumstances.”
The Kansas City Star reported that shortly before 1.30 on Friday afternoon, Kansas City Police were called to a residence in the 4100 block of Forest Avenue in the Manheim Park neighborhood.
Police discovered an infant, with what appeared to be burn injuries, in a car seat inside the living room close to the front door.
According to the police affidavit, the baby girl was pronounced dead at the scene by the Kansas City Fire Department.
Infant suffered thermal injuries
According to KSHB, the baby's grandfather reported to the police that Thomas had called him at around 1 pm in the afternoon on Friday, informing him that “something was wrong with the baby and that he needed to return home immediately".
He claimed to have discovered the infant dead in her crib after smelling smoke when he got there.
As per court records, he informed detectives that Thomas told him that she "put the child down for a nap and accidentally placed her in the oven instead of the crib".
The baby's grandmother reported to the police that she received a call from Thomas around the same time, during which Thomas screamed "hysterically".
According to the affidavit, the infant had "thermal injuries" on her body and was wearing an onesie over a diaper. It looked like the clothes had melted into the diaper.
The clothes were described as “very dirty, possibly burned on the backside,” by the officers.
In the living room, they also discovered a blanket with "significant burn marks".
Thomas was arrested.
