HOUSTON –A 19-month-old girl was found burned to death at her home after her siblings, all of whom are under the age of 5, reportedly placed her in an oven and then turned it on after the children were left home alone.
KTRK in Houston reports 19-month-old J’Zyra Thompson was found dead in the apartment in Houston that she shared with her mother, three siblings and her mother’s boyfriend.
The children’s grandmother tells KTRK the children were left home alone by the couple earlier this week, and the toddler was found burned and in the oven.
“It’s very heartbreaking, very very heartbreaking,” neighbor Serenity Humphries said.
A woman identifying herself as the children’s grandmother defended the parents.
“All I can tell you is they’re good people, they keep their kids together, so I don’t know what happened,” Gina Dennis said. “I don’t have no idea.”
KTRK reportsChild Protective Services was concerned about a number issues relating to the children’s mother, Racquel Thompson, and her boyfriend, as she reportedly told CPS she often left the kids home alone to drive her boyfriend to work. The couple reportedly left the children alone Monday night to pick up a pizza and a then a prescription without telling the children’s grandmother, who lives in the same complex, they were leaving the kids.
According to court records cited by KTRK, two children around the age of three told investigators that one of them put the younger child in the oven and then the other turned it on. Thompson attempted CPR when she got home, but the child was declared dead.
The remaining three children have been placed in foster care, and at this point no criminal charges have been filed. However, CPS told KTRK that criminal charges are expected.
Click here for more coverage from KTRK on the incident, including an interview with the father of two of the children, who claims he hasn’t seen the children in months and that Thompson has been ignoring his attempts to contact her.
