ATLANTA, GEORGIA (BNO NEWS) — Jessica Tata, the woman suspect in the Houston child care center fire that killed four children, on Monday arrived to the U.S. after being extradited from Lagos, Nigeria.
According to KHOU television, Tata, 22, arrived at about 5:00 a.m. local time and was booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia. She will be sent to Texas shortly, escorted by U.S. Marshals.
On Saturday, Tata was detained in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, by Interpol and U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Agents. She is expected to be charged with manslaughter, reckless injury to a child, abandoning a child and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
On February 24, four children were killed and three more were injured due to a devastating fire at a Houston, Texas home child care center. The incident was caused by a pot of oil left on a burning stove.
Tata, the owner and operator of Jackie’s Child Care was not present at the moment the fire broke out. She went shopping and left the children unattended. Days later, the 22-year-old woman left the country.
After that, the case was referred to the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force. Tata was added to the 15 Most Wanted fugitive list on March 4.
“When Jessica Tata chose to flee from the consequences of her actions that left four innocent children dead, we made her capture a top priority,” said Geoffrey Shank, U.S. Marshals Service Acting Assistant Director of Investigative Operations Division.
Tata will face trial in Houston. Texas state law prohibits one individual caring for more than six children older than 18 months. As a registered family home, the facility is allowed to care for 12 children.
Please day care providers, I hope you take this as a lesson and adhere to the early chilhdood education regulations and also to the authorities responsible for the safety of our children please supervise, monitor and support to ensure that this does not happen in Dominica. we have some child care center who are not meeitng minimum standards.
she is so young i wonder if she would have been able to take care of 6 kids of her own. I have such a soft spot when it comes 2 little ones…i’m a mother and can only guess what the parents of the lost and injured ones r going through…may the Lord have mercy on Tata for these were his children..when it comes to children u have to b so very alert, cautious with them, 2 tell me that this woman left the kids alone with a boilin pot on the fire? i know child care is so expensive, we may not know all the circumstances as 2 y the parents chose her…but still…R.I.P little ones and 2 the injured speedy recovery my heart is with all of u and the parents…God Bless
Four innocent children left to burn to death, Can’t imagine the horror they must have went through. All because of some idiot’s actions. Don’t worry you’re in TX, the death penalty is never off the table. Hope you get what’s coming to you.
THATS WHAT HAPPEN WHEN CHILDCARE IN THE US IS SO EXPENSICVE AND PARENTS LEAVE THEIR CHILDREN IN PEOPLE FROM THERE COUNTRY CARE…..YOU TAKE THE CHEAP ROUTE AND END UP IN TROUBLE SAME THING HAPPEN IN QUEENS WITH A GUYTANESE LDY WHO WERE TAKING CARE OF CHILDREN….
we should look closer at our local care givers, especially those who operate private enterprises at their homes. we may not have fires and death of children to deal with but we definitely have gross abuse.
am so sorry to hear that!
Tata, how could you put on a stove and leave six children unattended. Were you just interested in the money that was paid to you or the welfare of the children….
Well Tata, you might not see day light. Serious case on you there.