A Missouri mother who told investigators she accidentally placed her 1-month-old daughter in an oven instead of a crib will serve 13 years in state prison after pleading guilty to a child endangerment charge, while a first-degree murder count was dismissed under a plea agreement.
Mariah Thomas, 28, entered the guilty plea Tuesday to first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death, according to Jackson County court records. Judge Sarah A. Castle ordered the 13-year sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections and found that Thomas entered the plea freely and voluntarily and understood the charge and its consequences. The judgment states Thomas had no mental disease or defect defense. She received no probation and will be credited for time already served.
The punishment came more than two years after Kansas City police found Thomas' infant daughter dead with severe burns inside a city home. Officers were called to the residence around 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, 2024, on a report of a baby who was not breathing, according to charging documents. Police arrived to find 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,» the documents state. 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 her clothing appeared to have melted onto the diaper. Police also recovered a baby blanket with significant burn marks from 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, but she 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 count that was ultimately dismissed under Tuesday's agreement. Thomas was returned to the 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.
The case drew attention in Missouri and beyond as it moved through the courts, with the initial charge announced in early 2024 and the murder count added later. The plea agreement resolved the case without a trial on the murder allegation, leaving the endangerment conviction as the sole count of conviction. Fox News Digital reached out to the Jackson County prosecutor's office for comment.