The mother of two toddlers has been arrested for leaving them unattended at home when a house fire broke out and killed them, the Louisiana Fire Marshal's Office said.
Ta'shae Thompson Johnson, 4, and her 3-year-old brother Clifton Thompson Johnson tragically died in a house fire in Bastrop, La., on Monday evening while their 21-year-old mother was out getting her hair styled at a salon, the Associated Press reported. Investigators are still attempting to figure out how the series of events unfolded.
But "one thing is certain," said Brant Thompson, State Fire Marshal Deputy Chief. "Ciarria Johnson ... left her children unattended for hours as she was having her hair styled."
Johnson left her home around 1 p.m. Monday afternoon. She left two gas space heaters switched on inside the house, and one of the heaters eventually caused nearby flammable material to catch fire sometime early that evening. Shortly after, the entire single-family, wood-framed house became engulfed in flames, and the children did not make it out alive, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Initially, Johnson claimed that she had arranged for a neighbor to look after her children while she was away, but according to the deputy chief, she had made no such plans.
"Investigators later determined that Johnson, in fact, had made no such arrangements and that she had returned home only after being contacted about the fire," he said.
"It's really just heart wrenching, you know?" neighbor Johnny Hall told CNN affiliate KTVE. "I don't know what else to say."
Meanwhile, Johnson is facing criminal charges on two counts of negligent homicide in the death of her children. It remains unclear whether she has an attorney.
