Bell
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman whose 6-year-old daughter died in a Wichita house fire last summer has pleaded no contest to three counts of aggravated child endangerment.
The Wichita Eagle reports 28-year-old Ruthie Lee Bell of Wichita also pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated interference with parental custody on Monday in Sedgwick County District Court.
Prosecutors say Bell left 6-year-old Ja’Kara Dickson and her two sisters, ages 4 and 7, alone before the fire broke out at their home July 11.
Authorities have said Ja’Kara was playing with a lighter when she accidentally set her clothes on fire, then caught her bed on fire when she pulled off the burning clothes. She died three days later.
Bell is scheduled to be sentenced June 25.