Woman charged in Houston day care fire (killed 4) has fled to Nigeria

.........."How in the hell did they let this happen?" asked a furious Tracy Storms, grandmother of 3-year-old Shomari Leon Dickerson, who died in the fire. "She killed four children. That was enough to keep her in custody. She was negligent for seven children and she killed four. This is ridiculous."

Seven children were in Tata’s care at the home-based day care she operated in west Houston when a fire broke out Thursday. Four of the children died. Two are being treated at Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston in critical but stable condition.

Investigators believe the fire started on top of the electric stove in the kitchen, where a pot filled with oil had been left unattended, according to court documents. The documents allege that Tata had left the children without any adult supervision at the time.

The charge Tata faces is a second-degree felony punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison. Bond was set at $500,000.

Campbell explained that arson investigators have full police power to make arrests within the department’s jurisdiction, but HFD did not receive a signed warrant until Monday afternoon, two days after Tata reportedly left Texas en route to Nigeria.

Arson investigators first brought what they thought was convincing evidence to the DA’s office on Friday morning: in-store video showing Tata at a nearby Target, shopping at the time of the Thursday fire. They also had two eyewitnesses say Tata drove up to the day care, when it was already on fire.

But the DA’s office told HFD to keep investigating, said Fire Marshal Richard Galvan, who oversees HFD’s arson investigation division......

Here is the latest at the Houston Chronicle:

Expert: One charge could derail extradition from Nigeria
It could take more than a year, even if Tata is captured quickly, legal experts say

[March 1, 2011]............After authorities charged Tata on Sunday night with recklessly injuring a child, she could not be found.

She is now believed to be in Nigeria and is being hunted by the U.S. Marshals Service, authorities said.

Experts predicted that even if Tata is captured quickly, her return to the U.S. could drag on for months if not more than a year.

Although the U.S. has had an extradition treaty with Nigeria since the 1930s, the Nigerian government does not have a strong track record of quickly expediting suspects to the U.S., according to several government reports.

The U.S. government “has had extradition requests pending in Nigeria for years and is concerned that Nigeria’s extradition practices and procedures remain obstacles” to anti-crime efforts there, according to a 2009 State Department report.

Officials with the Office of International Affairs within the U.S. Department of Justice did not return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment on Nigerian extradition efforts.

Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos announced nine additional charges against Tata on Tuesday, including six more charges of reckless injury to a child and three of child endangerment.

But an expert on international extradition law warned that the local district attorney’s office may be about to make a serious misstep in the case.

University of Houston law professor Jordan Paust, who reviewed the bilateral treaty between the U.S. and Nigeria this week, said it includes a long list of offenses for which a suspect is subject to extradition, including manslaughter.

But the treaty does not specifically include the offense of reckless injury to a child or child endangerment, Paust said, which he predicted could jeopardize Tata’s extradition.

“This would be a very serious mistake not to charge for manslaughter in view of the treaty,” Paust said. “Ignorance of the law is not a defense, not even for a prosecutor.”

Lykos said the DA’s office disagreed with Paust’s interpretation of the law, saying both manslaughter and reckless injury to a child are second-degree felonies in Texas.

Another potential problem for prosecutors is a portion of the treaty that states suspects can only face charges for the crimes for which they are extradited, Paust said. There is a process to amend the charges, but it can get very complicated, experts said.....

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7452388.html

Here is the 2nd story with details of the hunt and prosecution of the fugitive suspect Jessica Tata. It looks like the DA and the HFD are pointing at each other. MORE about a charity set up by the brother Ron Tata, her movement around public schools due to discipline problems and some contact with her cousin in Nigeria are detailed AT THE LINK BELOW.

Nine more charges made in tragedy
DA denies that delay in filing let woman skip out

[March 1, 2011] Nine more charges were filed Tuesday against a fugitive sought in a deadly day care fire while an outraged Harris County district attorney fired back at criticism that her office’s due diligence allowed the woman to flee to Nigeria.

Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos dismissed suggestions that prosecutors in her office unreasonably delayed filing charges in the case as “outrageous,” noting her staff handled the matter correctly.

“Our staff conducted itself professionally and appropriately,” Lykos said of the sequence of events that led to criminal charges against Jessica Rene Tata after the 22-year-old had already left the country Saturday. “Everyone in our office who’s been involved in this investigation has my full and complete confidence. I’m deeply disappointed that certain people have chosen to cast blame in the media.”

Jackie’s Child Care, operated by Tata in west Houston at 2810 Crest Park Lane, caught fire Thursday, killing four children and injuring three more.

Lykos, who announced nine more charges against Tata on Tuesday, adding to one already filed on Sunday, took issue with reports that her office moved too slowly after being notified Tata was a flight risk before the day care operator fled the country.

“These public statements are unprofessional and they’re counterproductive. What we need to do is to have Ms. Tata in custody,” Lykos said.

[snip]

Each time, HFD Executive Assistant Chief Richard Galvan said they were told to continue investigating because their evidence did not rule out the possibility that another staffer or adult was at the day care at the time of the fire. If there was another adult, then that person could have been held liable and been charged.

Galvan also told the Chronicle this week that arson investigator Ruben Hernandez notified assistant district attorney Steve Baldassano on Friday that he had a tip that Tata was preparing to leave the country and was a flight risk.

Galvan said the prosecutor’s reaction was to instruct them to get more evidence.

“It was a little frustrating for us,” he told the Chronicle and added that his investigators could not have detained Tata on their own. That ability rested with the DA’s office, Galvan said.

Lykos indicated that was untrue, emphasizing that arson investigators are law enforcement officers and can act accordingly.

“There is no such thing as an investigatory or an investigative hold under our law,” Lykos said. “If you believe that there’s probable cause to believe felony has been committed — if you see a misdemeanor committed on view like that — you have an absolute right to arrest.”............

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7452300.html

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