Rochester, N.Y. - Nicole Allen, 22, has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of her three-year-old daughter Kamari.
Allen had left her three young children home alone to buy beer. A stove fire erupted while she was gone, killing one child and severely injuring the others.
The fire happened in September 2008 on Second St. During the trial, the jury was shown graphic images of the victims' burns and heard emotional testimony from firefighters who rescued the children.
Allen had been charged with second-degree manslaughter, but to be found guilty of manslaughter, the jury must conclude that her conduct created a risk of death, and she consciously disregarded that risk.
The jury convicted her on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, meaning an individual created a risk of death, and did not perceive that risk.
Allen was also found guilty of three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
The jury started deliberating just before noon and had asked three times for the judge to read back the definition of manslaughter.
Defense attorney Dianne Russell asked the jury not to "get involved with emotion...It's bad judgment, a lack of insight, but it wasn't conduct that contributed to a risk a death would occur."
Russell said Allen has a limited education and vocabulary, using the word "eyes" to describe stove knobs. Allen, who was 20 at the time of the fire, was "ignorant and irresponsible," said Russell, but she did not commit a crime. "Kids should not have kids," she said.
Assistant District Attorney Paul Irving said the fire was no accident, and said Allen blamed everyone but herself for the fire. Irving dismissed Russell's contention that Allen didn't know better, saying, "We have teenagers younger fighting wars in Afghanistan, being allowed to handle deadly weapons."
Irving referenced fire investigator testimony that the children were "cooked alive."
"You leave a three-year-old dog home alone. You don't leave a three-year-old child home alone," Irving told the jury.
Allen faces a maximum sentence of 1-1/3 to 4 years in prison for the criminally negligent homicide, and one year in prison for each of the three counts of counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
