Mariah Thomas is 28 years old and lives in Kansas City, Missouri.
When police arrived at her home, they found her one-month-old daughter inside the oven, with severe burns that had melted her clothing onto the diaper. In the living room, there was a baby blanket with burn marks. Thomas told a family member that she thought she had put her in her crib and that, by accident, she ended up in the oven.
Prosecutors later added a first-degree murder charge, but dropped it in exchange for her pleading guilty to endangering the life of a minor resulting in death. Judge Sarah A. Castle confirmed that she acted freely and voluntarily, without an insanity defense. The sentence: 13 years in prison, with no possibility of parole, and compensation of just $68 for the victims’ fund.