A Kansas City mother was sentenced on Tuesday to 13 years in prison for burning her 1-month-old daughter to death in an oven.
Mariah Thomas, 28, pleaded guilty to first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death after claiming she mistook the oven for a crib. Thomas was initially charged with murder, but the charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement.
“Judge Sarah A. Castle found Thomas entered the guilty plea freely and voluntarily and understood the charge and consequences. The judgment states Thomas had no mental disease or defect defense,” Fox News reported.
Thomas was sentenced to 13 years with credit for time served. She is also ordered to pay $68 to Missouri’s Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund. The judge waived all other court costs, according to the report.
The case occurred in February of 2024, when Kansas City police responded to a home near 41st Street and Forest Avenue after a report of an infant who was not breathing.
First responders tried to rescue the child, but the baby girl, later identified as Za’riah Thomas, died at the scene. Officers at the time described the scene at the home as “gruesome” after the child was found severely burned.
Thomas allegedly told family members she was putting her baby down for a nap and accidentally placed her in the oven instead of a crib, court documents state.
Thomas will serve her sentence at the Missouri Department of Corrections.
