The Missouri mother accused of cooking her newborn daughter to death in an oven after allegedly mistaking her for a crib could be freed for just $10,000 after a judge cut her bond in half.
Mariah Thomas, 26, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after one-month-old Za’Riah Mae was found dead with “burn injuries,” according to an arrest warrant.
At a hearing Tuesday, Jackson County Judge Travis Willingham reduced Thomas’ bond from $200,000 to $100,000.
That means Thomas could get out of jail for just $10,000, since bail conditions require her to pay only 10 percent of that amount.
Judge Willingham apparently agreed with Thomas’ attorney, who argued that his client’s bail should be reduced because he has no criminal record.
Mariah Thomas, 26, the Missouri mother accused of baking her newborn daughter in an oven after allegedly mistaking her for a crib, could be freed for just $10,000 after a judge cut her bond in half.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, believe Thomas presents a flight risk and a danger to the community, according to the kansas city star.
Police were called to the mother’s home in Kansas City after receiving reports that a child was not breathing on February 9, the day after Thomas’ birthday.
When they arrived, they found the baby covered in burns, with her “blackened” clothes melted into her diaper.
A devastated friend of Thomas told DailyMail.com that Za’Riah was a “very happy” baby, who “smiled all the time”.
He also suggested that Thomas’ mental health may have played a role in the tragedy.
“From what I know, Mariah had mental problems and she didn’t have the mentality of an adult, she thought like a child,” the friend said, adding that she last spoke to the mother on Monday.
Za’Riah’s grandfather told police that he received a call from her mother around 1:00 pm on Friday in which she told him that “something was wrong with the baby and that she needed to come home immediately.”
Upon returning home he immediately began smelling smoke and found Za’Riah dead in her crib.
At a hearing Tuesday, Jackson County Judge Travis Willingham reduced Thomas’ bond from $200,000 to $100,000. That means Thomas could potentially get out of jail for just $10,000, since bail conditions require her to put up just 10 percent of that amount.
Mariah Thomas, 26, has been accused of killing her baby Za’Riah Mae by putting her in an oven.
The one-month-old baby was found in her Kansas City home with burn marks all over her body, according to Thomas’ arrest warrant.
Thomas told police she had “accidentally placed her in the oven instead of the crib,” the charging document states.
Thomas told her she had “accidentally” put it in the oven, according to court documents.
Za’Riah was discovered by police in a car seat inside her home with “apparent thermal injuries to various parts of her body.”
He was wearing a onesie over a diaper that appeared to have melted and was “very dirty, possibly burned.”
A charred baby blanket was also discovered and taken as evidence.
Thomas was transported to police headquarters for an interview in which she invoked her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.
But she consented to detectives taking her blood and accessing data on her phone.
Thomas’ social media portrays her as a loving mother, who referred to her daughter as her “princess.”
In a Facebook post, she expresses her desire to be “the best mother I can be to my beautiful daughter.”
Police responded to reports that a girl was not breathing and found her dead in her car seat.
Thomas’ social media posts portrayed her as a loving mother, but also suggested she felt isolated.
But in a disturbing post made just weeks before the tragedy, Thomas complained that no one was looking out for her.
“The women claim they are my friends and never check up on me or Za’Riah,” he wrote on January 20.
Thomas is still being held at the Jackson County Detention Center.