Wednesday, January 14, 2015

2 young children die alone in house fire while Louisiana mom gets her hair done: officials

2 young children die alone in house fire while Louisiana mom gets her hair done: officials

Ciarria Johnson, 21, left her kids alone for three hours Monday afternoon before the blaze broke out, officials said. She left her hair appointment after hearing the fire had broken out and later learned it claimed the lives of little Clifton Thompson, 3, and Ta'shae Thompson Johnson, 4.

 
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
 
Published: Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 10:35 AM
Updated: Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 1:24 PM
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Clifton Thompson Johnson, 3, left, and Ta’shae Thompson Johnson, 4, were killed in the blaze Monday afternoon. FACEBOOKClifton Thompson Johnson, 3, left, and Ta’shae Thompson Johnson, 4, were killed in the blaze Monday afternoon. 
A Louisiana mom faces homicide charges after her two young children died in a house fire while she left them alone to go get her hair done, fire officials said.
Ciarria Johnson, 21, didn’t even leave her hair appointment Monday afternoon until someone called her about the blaze at her house in Bastrop, near the border with Arkansas, the Louisiana state fire marshal said.
Clifton Thompson, 3, and his 4-year-old sister, Ta’shae Thompson Johnson, perished in the flames when the Pruett St. blaze broke out in the single-family, wood-framed home, authorities said.
Ciarria Johnson told authorities she’d asked her neighbor to watch the children when she left for her hair appointment about 1 p.m. Monday — but authorities said that wasn’t true.
Instead, she left the youngsters home alone with two gas heaters in the living room left on, which flammable items nearby, fire officials said.
The blaze broke out about 4 p.m. Monday at the Bastrop, La., home, allegedly while 21-year-old mom Ciarria Johnson was out getting her hair done.
The blaze broke out about 4 p.m. Monday at the Bastrop, La., home, allegedly while 21-year-old mom Ciarria Johnson was out getting her hair done.
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  • Ciarria Johnson, 21, mother of Ta’shae Thompson Johnson, 4, and Clifton Thompson Johnson, 3, left her children unattended as she had her hair done at a salon. Her house caught on fire and both children died on January 12, 2014 in Bastrop, Louisiana.
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  • Ciarria Johnson, 21, mother of Ta’shae Thompson Johnson, 4, and Clifton Thompson Johnson, 3, left her children unattended as she had her hair done at a salon. Her house caught on fire and both children died on January 12, 2014 in Bastrop, Louisiana.
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  • Ciarria Johnson, 21, mother of Ta’shae Thompson Johnson, 4, and Clifton Thompson Johnson, 3, left her children unattended as she had her hair done at a salon. Her house caught on fire and both children died on January 12, 2014 in Bastrop, Louisiana.
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The blaze broke out about 4 p.m., and Johnson’s neighbor escaped an adjacent trailer along with her own two children.
But little Ta’shae and Clifton could not get out and Johnson rushed home after hearing about the fire.
The devastated mom refused to leave her car when she arrived on scene Monday and threatened to hurt herself, KTVE-TV reported.
She was later taken to the Brentwood Psychiatric Hospital in Shreveport for evaluation, but is expected to be booked into the Morehouse Parish jail and charged with two counts of negligent homicide.
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