An Albuquerque judge has rejected a plea deal for a mother accused of setting fire to her own apartment while her two young sons were trapped inside, sending the case to trial months after police pulled the children from a smoke-filled home. Yailasha Smith, 28, appeared in court on Thursday, where the agreement that once offered her three years behind bars was denied.
According to KRQE, Judge Clara Moran said the indictment against Smith carried a potential sentence of 38.5 years, far more than what the rejected plea offer would have required her to serve. With the deal denied, Smith is now set to head to trial at a later date, and the outlet reports she faces more than 30 years behind bars if convicted.
Smoke at the Door, Children Inside
The case dates to Feb. 7, when officers responding to Smith's apartment found smoke coming out through the door. She refused to open it for them, according to a separate KRQE report on the video released by police. An officer ultimately went inside and pulled two children from the smoke-filled unit before finding an active fire burning in the bathroom, the station's report on the arrest states.
Smith gave conflicting explanations for what sparked the blaze. She told officers she had been cooking and dropped a lighter in her bathtub, per the seed reporting, while a separate account from KOAT states that she told police she had dropped lighter fluid and that her son had also spilled some. A doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital who examined the children told investigators the kids smelled like lighter fluid, according to KOAT's report.
Charges and Custody
Smith was taken into custody and is accused of setting her apartment on fire while her children were inside; police say she started the fire while her two sons were home. She faces charges including arson and child abuse, along with a charge of resisting, evading or obstructing an officer tied to her refusal to open the door, per the earlier KRQE account of the arrest. The children are now in the care of Smith's family members, the state's Children, Youth and Families Department told the outlet.
A Home Already on Authorities' Radar
The February fire was not the first time officials had been called to the address. Police and firefighters had reportedly responded to Smith's home about five times before the blaze, per the same KRQE account. CYFD separately told KOB that it had received three reports concerning the household between Feb. 5 and Feb. 7 alone, and that it responded to each one. The agency said Smith refused to cooperate with its investigators and with law enforcement in the days leading up to the fire.
With the plea deal now denied, the case moves toward trial, and no date for those proceedings has been made public. KRQE's Jordan Honeycutt reported on the hearing.
