Two young children killed in house fire after mom left them home alone while getting hair done
Two young children killed in house fire after mom left them home alone while getting hair done
Two young children have died in a house fire after their mom left them alone so she could get her hair done.
Ciarria Johnson left her four-year-old daughter, Ta’shae Thompson Johnson, and three-year-old son, Clifton Thompson Johnson, alone without supervision on Monday evening.
The 21-year-old also left two gas space heaters turned on in the wood-framed home in Bastrop, Louisiana.
She returned to find the house ‘completely engulfed in flames,’ reports NBC News.
Johnson reportedly told investigators that she returned to her home to find the house engulfed in flames, the marshal’s office said, reports Nola.com.
But authorities believe she did not return home until after she was told about the fire.
Johnson told authorities that she arranged for a neighbor to look after her children. But she hadn’t, the deputy chief, said reports CNN.
‘While investigators of the state fire marshal’s office are still piecing together their findings in the tragic fire that occurred on Pruett Street, one thing is certain: Ciarria Johnson … left her children unattended for hours as she was having her hair styled,’ according to a statement from the state fire marshal.
A control valve on a gas heater in the living room, where the fire is believed to have started, was found in the ‘on’ position, the statement said.
It added the fire likely started because of flammable materials being too close to the heater.
The Fire Marshal’s Office says Johnson is charged with two counts of negligent homicide in the death of her children.
‘It’s really just heart wrenching, you know?’ neighbor Johnny Hall told CNN affiliate KTVE.
