By Roberto Bustamante
A mother is accused of leaving her 3 children unsupervised in her Pennsylvania home, where they eventually died in a fire.
On Sunday, March 29, Danozjna Shalita Marjie Williams she allegedly left her children unattended for nearly an hour to conduct a drug transaction, NBC Philadelphia and CBS Info reported, citing authorities.
Their children —Da’Liyla, 3 years old; Tobias Huff, 5 years old; and Amirah Al-Mansouri, 5 months—died in a fire that broke out around 4:30 p.m.
Williams, 22, was charged with third-degree murder, endangering the welfare of children, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering the life of another person, according to a news release from the Erie County Prosecutor’s Office.
At the time of the fire, firefighters urged residents to avoid the area in a Facebook post. A day later, they shared several photos of the scene, revealing that two of the minors had died and another was taken by helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital in critical condition.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and everyone affected by this tragedy,” Erie firefighters wrote on Facebook.
Williams’ children were found in a second-floor bedroom of a property at 500 East 26th Boulevard. Da’Liyla and Tobias were pronounced dead on the same day of the fire, while Amirah died from her injuries on April 3.
The fire is believed to have started in the second-floor kitchen, but the cause has not yet been determined, according to CBS Info. The investigation into the incident continues.
According to the outlet, citing court documents, firefighters had difficulty entering the property because a mattress blocked the staircase and a sofa obstructed a door at the top. The team had to use another door to access the burning house.
“This is a heartbreaking, but completely avoidable, tragedy,” Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz stated in a news release. “The evidence shows that these young children were left unsupervised in a situation where they needed their mother to protect them and keep them safe.”
Keep reading:
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