Ohio Mother Charged in Fire Deaths of Two Daughters
Source The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
The mother of two young girls who died in a December house fire was drunk when she fell asleep and let food on the stove catch fire, Columbus police say.
Valerie Windom, 34, was indicted Wednesday by a Franklin County grand jury on two counts each of involuntary manslaughter and child endangering. Her daughters -- Treasure Mi Windom-Harris, 7, and Tomarra Renee Hackett, 5 -- died in the fire early on Dec. 18. Windom escaped.
Columbus homicide detectives said the apartment at 2794 Grosse Point on the East Side was ablaze when Windom awoke about 5 a.m.
Detective Patricia Dailey said Windom voluntarily submitted to blood-alcohol testing on the morning of the fire. Dailey wouldn't provide the exact reading but said it was three times the 0.08 percent level at which a driver is presumed drunk in Ohio.
The involuntary-manslaughter counts accuse Windom of causing the deaths while committing felony child endangering, defined as "recklessly creating a substantial risk to the health or safety" of the girls.
"As a parent, we have a duty to care for and protect our children," Dailey said. "That level of intoxication is what led to" the charges.
Windom, who is listed in court records as living at 2764 Brandy Dr., has been issued a summons to appear in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Feb. 22. She couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
She changed her story several times about what happened the morning of the fire, Dailey said, but detectives think that she started cooking something on the stovetop, sat down on a couch and fell asleep.
The fire was so advanced when she woke up that she likely was unable to reach the girls upstairs, Dailey said. The second-floor bedroom they were in collapsed into the living room.
"We're hoping that others learn a lesson from this as far as making sure that, regardless if they're in their own home, that they're able to care for the children that they are responsible for," Dailey said.
Dispatch reporter John Futty contributed to this story.
Copyright 2012 - The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
