One-Month-Old Baby Dies After St. Louis Mother Places Her In The Oven for a Nap

An Ohio mother was charged with felony murder after authorities claimed she put her 1-month-old baby in an oven for a nap, which caused the infant’s death.

As Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker revealed in a news release on Saturday, the woman, identified as Kansas City, Missouri resident Mariah Thomas, placed her newborn baby in an oven earlier this week.

People.com reports,

According to the release, police found the child on Friday after responding to a 911 call that reported “a non-breathing infant.” Upon their arrival, officers discovered the baby with “apparent burns.”

Authorities were told that Thomas was “putting the child down for a nap and accidentally placed the child in the oven instead of the crib,” the prosecutor said.

The Kansas City Fire Department, which also responded to the scene of the alleged crime, declared the baby dead at the scene.

It is stated in the criminal complaint that the 1-month-old child was discovered “in the living room lying in her car seat just inside the front door” and “had apparent thermal injuries throughout her body.”

#UPDATE: Here is a photo of the 26 year old mother who reportedly mistakenly put her own child in a the oven the mother has been arrested and changed with charged with endangering the welfare of a child pic.twitter.com/enp4mvyU23

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) February 12, 2024

How does someone accidentally put their one-month-old baby in the oven?  Users on X also were befuddled, to say the least.

Let he who hasn’t mistakingly put their kid in the oven cast the first stone.

— Illegal Rib Dealer (@tubingtyler1) February 12, 2024

Others were stunned to find out the mother had only been charged with endangerment.

She was charged with endangerment ONLY?!? You have got to be kidding me.

— William Thomas (@Williamrno) February 12, 2024

The people.com report goes on to say,

“She was clothed in a bodysuit over a diaper. The clothing appeared to have melted onto the diaper, and it was very dirty, possibly burned on the backside,” according to the complaint.

A “baby blanket with significant burn marks” was also found on the property and collected by police, the complaint said.

Before police were contacted, they said in their complaint, the baby’s grandfather returned home and could smell smoke in the home. He later found the baby dead in her crib.

Thomas then allegedly said that she “accidentally put her in the oven.”

A sentence of at least ten years, up to life, may be imposed on Thomas if she is found guilty.

As of right now, no one has issued a statement on Thomas’ behalf indicating whether or not she has retained a lawyer