Inset: Mariah Thomas (Jackson County Jail). Background: Home in Kansas City, Missouri, where Thomas allegedly put her baby daughter in an oven (WDAF/YouTube).
A grand jury in Missouri has indicted a mother who allegedly killed her infant daughter when she “accidentally” put her in the oven.
Mariah Thomas, 26, has been in the Jackson County Jail since February on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child. Last week, the grand jury tacked on an involuntary manslaughter charge, the superseding indictment said. Thomas faces between 10 and 30 years in prison for the endangerment charge and three to 10 years for involuntary manslaughter.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the Kansas City Police Department responded to a home around 1:30 p.m. Feb. 9 for a reported “non-breathing infant.” When cops arrived, they found a person holding a baby girl with “apparent burn wounds.” A male relative told police the family left the home earlier in the day, leaving Thomas and the baby girl alone. Thomas and the girl appeared to be in “good spirits” at the time, according to the relative.
But around 1 p.m. Thomas called him to say there was “something wrong with the baby” and he needed to come home “immediately,” cops wrote.
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The relative rushed home and could “smell smoke” in the house when he ran inside. He found the baby girl dead in her crib. He asked Thomas what happened.
She allegedly replied, “I thought I put [the girl] in her crib and I accidentally put her in the oven.”
Cops found the girl in a car seat placed in the living room. She had “thermal injuries” throughout her body. She was wearing a onesie that “appeared to have melted onto the diaper,” cops wrote. Investigators also found a burned baby blanket. Thomas declined to speak with detectives. She remains in jail on a $100,000 bond.
According to the Kansas City Star, Thomas is slated to go on trial on Jan 13.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a statement following Thomas’ arrest that she appreciated the first responders and prosecutors at the scene.
“We acknowledge the gruesome nature of this tragedy and our hearts are weighted by the loss of this precious life,” Baker said. “We trust the criminal justice system to respond appropriately to these awful circumstances.”
Neighbors said they were stunned.
“Within a matter of minutes I heard sirens. The next thing I know, there’s a baby carrier being transported between the [ambulance] and the house,” neighbor Corrine Foreman told local Fox affiliate WDAF.
The incident was tragic, the neighbors said.
“I’m pretty shocked by it and appalled that there’s a death in our neighborhood. It’s sad, especially when it’s a child. No child should be leaving here,” neighbor Amber Morgan told the outlet.
