Missouri mother sentenced to 13 years after infant found dead in oven
Mariah Thomas received a 13-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death. A first-degree murder charge was dismissed under her plea agreement. (Jackson County Detention Center)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Missouri mother who said she accidentally placed her 1-month-old daughter in an oven instead of a crib will spend more than a decade behind bars after accepting a plea deal that dismissed a first-degree murder charge.
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Mariah Thomas, 28, pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death, according to Jackson County court records. She was sentenced to 13 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
The sentence came more than two years after Kansas City police found Thomas’ infant daughter dead with severe burns inside a home.
Thomas was initially charged with first-degree murder, but prosecutors dismissed that count as part of the plea agreement, court records show. She was not granted probation and will receive credit for time already served.
The backstory:
The incident happened on Feb. 9, 2024, when officers were called to the home around 1:30 p.m. following a report of a baby who was not breathing, according to charging documents.
Police found the 1-month-old child with apparent burns across her body. Kansas City Fire Department personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.
Investigators were told Thomas had gone to put her daughter down for a nap but "accidentally placed her in the oven instead of the crib," according to the documents.
A family member later told detectives that Thomas said, "I thought I put [her] in her crib and I accidentally put her in the oven."
The child was wearing a bodysuit over a diaper, and investigators said the clothing appeared to have melted onto the diaper. Police also recovered a baby blanket with significant burn marks in the living room, according to the probable cause statement.
The infant was identified by FOX 4 Kansas City as Za'riah Thomas.
Thomas initially declined to speak with detectives after being advised of her rights. She later agreed to provide a blood sample and allow investigators to access data from her cellphone, the documents state.
Then-Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker called the child’s death a "gruesome" tragedy when the original charge was announced in February 2024.
"We acknowledge the gruesome nature of this tragedy, and our hearts are weighted by the loss of this precious life," Baker said at the time. "We trust the criminal justice system to respond appropriately to these awful circumstances."
The original complaint charged Thomas only with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death. Court records show prosecutors later added the first-degree murder charge, which was dismissed under Tuesday’s plea agreement.
Judge Sarah A. Castle found that Thomas entered her guilty plea freely and voluntarily and understood the charge and its consequences. The judgment states that Thomas did not raise a mental disease or defect defense.
Thomas was returned to Jackson County sheriff’s custody to await transfer to state prison. The judge also ordered her to pay $68 to Missouri’s Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund and waived all other court costs.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Jackson County prosecutor’s office for comment.
The Source: FOX News contributed to this report. The story is based primarily on Jackson County court records, charging documents and the probable cause statement. Additional details about the infant’s identity came from FOX 4 Kansas City, This story was reported from Los Angeles.