Toddler dies after siblings put her in oven
A toddler died after her two pre-school siblings put her in the oven and switched it on, US media reported.
The three children – 19-month-old J’Zyra Thompson and her three-year-old twin siblings – had been left unsupervised in their Texas apartment. Their five-year-old sibling had also been present.
Court records obtained by ABC-13 News in Houston said the twins told child protective services that one of them put their little sister in the oven and the other one made it "hot".
The kids said that J’Zyra was kicking the oven from inside.
The toddler suffered fatal burns.
Their mother Racqual Thompson, 25, is set to appear in court on four counts of child endangerment, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s office.
Thompson reportedly told police that she had gone out with her boyfriend Cornell Malone, 21, to collect a pizza and a prescription at the drug store when her child burned to death on Nov 16.
Mail Online reported that the couple was out for about two hours.
When they returned home, they found the three other children crying and pointing to the kitchen. The oven had toppled over with the door face down on the floor.
Child protective services reportedly said that the couple did not tell the children's grandmother, who lived in the same apartment complex, that they were leaving the children unsupervised.
Thompson is eight-and-a-half months pregnant with Malone's child. The father of the other four children is Thompson's ex-boyfriend Fredrick Price.
The remaining three children have been taken away by child protective services.
Mr Price told ABC-13 News he has a court hearing next week to ask for visitation and possible custody of his children.
Sources: AFP, Mail Online, ABC-13 News, KHOU
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