A Missouri mom who allegedly claimed she "accidentally" stuffed her infant daughter into a blazing oven instead of putting her down in her crib has been accused of involuntary manslaughter after a grand jury tacked on the additional charge last week.
On top of manslaughter, Mariah Thomas, 26, also faces a charge of endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death, according to the superseding indictment released Thursday.
She previously pleaded not guilty to the latter charge, a little over a month ahead of her Jan. 13 trial, according to The Kansas City Star.
Thomas has been in custody since Feb. 9, when she purportedly "accidentally" put her 1-month-old baby girl in the oven. "I thought I put [redacted] in her crib..." she told her father, the probable cause document reviewed by the Lawyer Herald read.
Earlier this year, police responded to the Kansas City, Missouri home Thomas shared with her parents and daughter.
Responding officers alleged they observed Thomas holding the breathless infant, who also appeared to have suffered burn wounds to her body. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives interviewed Thomas' parents who said they awoke that morning to get ready to catch the bus to work, and their daughter and granddaughter both "appeared to be in good spirits" when they left, the documents read.
Thomas allegedly called her father later that day to tell him "something was wrong with the baby and he needed to return home immediately." He purportedly rushed home to the smell of smoke and his dead granddaughter in her crib.
He called 911 and handed over the deceased baby to first responders.
