HOUSTON, Texas – The mother of the toddler who was burned to death in an oven by a young sibling, has been charged with four counts of endangering a child. Nineteen-month-old J’Zyrah Thompson died after she was burned to death in an oven when the mother and her boyfriend left Thompson’s four children under the age of five unattended. A three-year-old sibling allegedly turned on the oven after the toddler climbed into the oven. Thompson’s live-in boyfriend has also been charged.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, officials say that the mother of the children, Racqual Lanae Thompson, and her boyfriend, Cornell Malone, left the toddler and her three young siblings alone when they went out to eat pizza and went to a Walgreens store. The children are nineteen months, three, three, and five years of age.
Officials say that Thompson told them that the children were sleeping when she and her boyfriend left the apartment.
The mother and her boyfriend returned to the residence to find that the oven had fallen over and there was a burning smell in the home. The children were also crying and pointing to the kitchen.
When Mr. Malone picked up the oven, little J’Zyrah Thompson fell out of the oven. The oven was on the hottest setting and the child had been severely burned. The toddler was not taken to a hospital because she was declared dead at the scene.
The five-year-old allegedly told authorities that the toddler climbed up into the oven but that one of the three-year-olds turned the oven on.
Officials told Breitbart Texas that Thompson and Malone both admitted they left the young children home alone the evening of J’Zyrah’s death.
Thompson also allegedly admitted that she has left the children at home on numerous occasions to take Malone to and from work at a Domino’s Pizza restaurant.
Neighbors told the media that the mother regularly leaves the children alone in the home.
Both Thompson and Malone have been charged with four counts of endangering a child. Thompson and Malone were charged with intentionally and knowingly engaging in conduct that placed the children who were under fifteen years of age, in imminent danger of bodily injury and death by leaving the children without adult supervision.
Bail was set at $36,000. The crime of endangering a child is a felony.
Thompson and Malone are set to be in court on November 30th at 9 a.m. in Harris County Criminal District Court.
Child Protective Services (CPS) now has custody of the three surviving children.
CPS requested emergency temporary conservatorship of the three children based on these acts, as well as an alleged past drug use by the mother, and past domestic violence that resulted in CPS becoming involved with the family. The agency also cited the mother’s driving without a driver’s license and transporting the children without car seats.
The agency says the father of little J’Zyrah Thompson is unknown. Malone is not J’Zyrah’s father.
Thompson is 31 weeks pregnant.
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as an associate judge and prosecutor. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2