Boy, 4, nearly burns down home while mother sleeps
A mother faces child neglect charges after her 4-year-old son nearly burned down their house while trying to cook eggs.
The defendant, Angela Marie Jennings, 32, is charged with neglect of a child under the age of 6, as authorities suspect she may have been under the influence of narcotics while the near tragedy occurred inside her Angela Street home Thursday afternoon.
According to arrest warrants against Jennings, deputies were dispatched to her home after the 4-year-old called his grandparents and told them he could not wake up his mother. It was also determined at that time Jennings had failed to pick up another one of her children from school.
When lawmen arrived, they were unable to gain entrance to the residence, prompting them to continue pounding on the door for several minutes until Jennings opened the door. Lawmen say she was disoriented and did not know the time of day.
It was at this point deputies found the residence was rapidly filling with smoke from a fire which began in the kitchen. The family was immediately evacuated until firemen arrived to douse the small blaze.
It was later determined the fire started when the 4-year-old turned on the stove to cook some eggs because he was hungry. Firemen pointed out that had lawmen arrived 15 minutes later, both mother and son would have likely died from smoke inhalation.
During a subsequent investigation, lawmen discovered there were several pills, such as hydrocodone, Promethazine and Zanax missing from a prescription filled the day before, perhaps explaining the mother’s unusual behavior.