Missouri mother accused of ‘accidentally’ placing 1-month-old baby in oven instead of her crib

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (TCD) — Police arrested a 26-year-old mother last week on suspicion of killing her infant after she allegedly placed the baby into the oven.

In a redacted probable cause statement posted by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, on Feb. 9, Kansas City Police officers responded to a report of a baby who wasn’t breathing and found an adult holding the unresponsive child. The 1-month-old victim sustained apparent burn injuries, and the Kansas City Fire Department pronounced the infant dead at the scene.

According to the probable cause statement, the mother, Mariah Thomas, told her grandfather she went to put her daughter down for a nap and thought she placed her into her crib but “accidentally put her in the oven.” The grandfather reportedly called 911 and handed the baby over to responding fire personnel upon their arrival.

The girl was reportedly found in her car seat near the front door. The affidavit says she “sustained apparent thermal injuries on various parts of her body,” and her clothing “appeared to have melted” onto her diaper. Investigators located a baby blanket with “significant burn marks.”

The Jackson County Prosecutor announced Feb. 10 that their office charged Thomas with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, death of a child. She remains held in the Jackson County Detention Center.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Baker said, “We appreciate all first responders who worked this scene and the prosecutors who went to the scene in order to issue these charges.”

Baker continued, “We acknowledge the gruesome nature of this tragedy and our hearts are weighted by the loss of this precious life. We trust the criminal justice system to respond appropriately to these awful circumstances.”

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