WACO, Texas — The grandmother of two children who were killed in a Waco house fire stayed in bed for several minutes after the fire started, even after she had been awakened by the two kids, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police said 44-year-old Andrea Aleman was charged with reckless endangerment Thursday because her actions or lack thereof contributed to the deaths of both of the children, 4-year-old Anthony Cole Puenta and his 2-year-old sister, Rachel Rose Aleman.
Investigators said Aleman “abandoned her grandchildren in a burning house and took no action to get them help” until it was too late.
According to the affidavit Channel 6 obtained Friday, Aleman left the two kids unsupervised in a room that had multiple fire hazards while she went to bed.
Aleman got up several minutes after the kids had alerted her to a fire in the kitchen, according to the affidavit. After she got up, Aleman left both kids behind and did not come back to help or make sure they got out of the house, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said Aleman briefly called out from the next room, then left the house without making sure all the kids were out safely.
Police said an 11-year-old who survived the fire reported that Aleman was the first person to leave the house.
Once she was outside, Aleman didn't ask for help from the neighbors who shared the duplex with her, according to the affidavit.
"Defendant abandoned her grandchildren in a burning house and took no action to get them help until firefighters walked past her on the corner down from the house," the affidavit said. "She disregarded her duty to care for these children by placing them in a substantial and unjustifiable risk, which was of such a nature as to be a gross deviation from the standard of care from an ordinary person in likewise circumstances."
Police said the Waco fire marshal determined the fire was set by someone in the house. It was not determined if the fire was accidental or intentional.
The fire was reported on Nov. 2 just after 1:30 a.m. at a home in the 1200 block of Webster Ave. Firefighters were called by someone outside the house, officials said. Waco Fire Chief Bobby Tatum said they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the front of the home.
Tatum said firefighters found one of the children in a bathroom and the other in a bathroom closet. Both of the children were unresponsive and taken to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead, Tatum said.
Aleman is charged with two counts of reckless injury to a child.
She was found and arrested at a north Waco home Thursday, police said.
Waco Independent School District spokesman Kyle DeBeer said on the afternoon of the fire that the 11-year-old is a student at West Avenue Elementary School.
A GoFundMe account has also been set up to help the family.
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