A Houston day care owner was back in a Texas jail cell Tuesday after her weekend arrest in Nigeria, facing charges of leaving alone four toddlers who later died in a fire.
Jessica Rene Tata, 22, completed the 6,500-mile round trip in the custody of officers from the the Harris County sheriff's department and was quickly ordered held without bond.
She was handcuffed and wearing a body armor vest as officers hustled her into the jail. Authorities said Tata left seven youngsters alone in her home day care while she went shopping at Target on Feb. 24.
She also left a pan of oil burning on a stove, and authorities determined that caused the deadly fire inside Jackie's Child Care in west Houston.
The eldest of the four dead children was just 3 years old, while the youngest was only 16 months. Three other children were seriously injured in the blaze.
Tata, after initially rebuffing law enforcement efforts to interview her, bolted Houston for Nigeria two days after the fire.
Although a native of Texas, Tata had relatives in the African nation. She was arrested Saturday after an international search that landed her on the U.S. Marshals service list of most wanted fugitives.
Tata was charged with four counts of manslaughter, six counts of reckless injury to a child, three counts of abandoning a child under 15 and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
The top count of manslaughter comes with a maximum term of 20 years behind bars.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/22/2011-03-22_jessica_rene_tata_houston_day_care_owner_faces_charges_in_fatal_fire_that_killed.html#ixzz1HUC9yGoF
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