[excerpt] ".....Tata's brother, Ron Tata, has denied that his sister had left the toddlers, who ranged in age from about 16 months to 3 years, when the fire occurred, saying she had gone to the bathroom and passed out when she saw the house filling with smoke.
A law enforcement source has said "there's no question she went shopping." An eyewitness said Saturday that he saw Tata arrive at the day care in a van, then watched as she carried a bag of groceries to the door. When she opened the door, smoke rushed out and she began screaming for help.
"It doesn't add up," said Daniel Tantua, the church's choir director, who said Tata was known for being responsible with children...." [end excerpt] Source
"....Eyewitness account
He said he watched Tata pull into the driveway and calmly carry groceries to the front door.
"She opened the door and smoke came rushing out. She ran toward us screaming, 'Help me! Help me! The kids are inside!' " Chestnut said. "She looked like she really, really did care about the kids."
Chestnut called 911, and he and a friend ran toward the home as Tata, he said, screamed hysterically outside the house, pleading for help and explaining that the toddlers were in cribs.
Rescue attempts
Chestnut's friend, Goeffrey Deshano, saw a little boy through a window. Deshano, Chestnut said, broke a window trying to get to the child but was forced back by heavy smoke.
Chestnut entered through the back door, crawling and squinting, trying to improve his vision through the smoke. He saw flames coming from the stove and heard sounds that haunt him since.
"I could hear children screaming from everywhere. I couldn't tell which way to go," he said.
But Chestnut quickly became overwhelmed by the smoke, he said, and had to retreat. "I keep hearing kids screaming in my head when I'm sleeping," said Chestnut.
According to a recent ad on Craigslist, Jackie's Child Care touted itself as "an awesome pre-school, where are children start at the tender age of 30 months and attend to age 5. Our curriculum is one of the best in town, its Montessori style, where every child learns at their own pace. In addition to the regular basic Pre-K curriculum we also teach: Science, Bible Stories, Spanish, Early Reading, and so much more." [end excerpt]