Nevada mother arrested after 3-year-old daughter dies in fire
03/29/2023 12:12 pm PDT
CARSON CITY, Nev. (TCD) -- A 23-year-old mother faces charges after her 3-year-old daughter was killed in a fire while she wasn't home.
According to a news release from the Carson City Sheriff's Office, on March 28, shortly after 12 p.m., Washoe Tribal Police and Carson City Fire units responded to a home on Shoshone Street to a report of a structure fire. At the scene, officers reportedly tried to enter the home to search for possible victims, but they were "unable to make entry due to the smoke and fire."
The Sheriff's Office said the neighbors informed officials that there were possibly two children inside the home and that "they were often left alone by their mother."
Carson City Fire units were reportedly able to retrieve the two unresponsive children, ages 2 and 3, from inside the home. They were transported to the Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, where the 3-year-old girl was pronounced dead. The 2-year-old boy "remained in serious condition due to smoke inhalation," but he is expected to survive, the Sheriff's Office said.
A third child, 8 years old, was reportedly at school during the fire.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the children's mother, Samantha Rose Paulino, returned home while firefighters were extinguishing the fire, and she told authorities she "had gone to register for college classes and left the children home."
Paulino was arrested and booked into the Washoe County Detention Center for child abuse and neglect and was later transported to the Carson City Detention Center on charges of child abuse causing substantial bodily harm and open murder. She remains held without bail.
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