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Florida Mother Charged With Child Neglect For Leaving Daughter, 6, In Burning Apartment While She Fled The Scene

By Tara West
Published on: 11:30 PST, May 8, 2016

A 32-year-0ld mother, Erica Rosello, accidentally started an oil fire while cooking and attempted to put it out with a bottle of water, which only ignited the flames into an inferno. As the fire burned out of control in the apartment, the mother panicked, leaving her 6-year-old daughter alone to fend for herself as she fled to safety. Instead of calling for help or attempting to render aid to her daughter, Erica left the scene entirely, flagging down a vehicle, which she asked to take her to a friend’s house. Fortunately, as the child’s mother fled away from the apartment complex, a neighbor pulled the fire alarm and called for assistance. The six-year-old little girl was then rescued from the burning apartment by firefighters who found the girl in the smoke-filled room.

The Daily Mail reports that 32-year-old Erica Rosello left her six-year-old daughter Grace in a burning apartment alone as she fled to safety outside. The mother was allegedly cooking in the kitchen when a fire broke out on the stove. With Erica unable to put the fire out with water, she fled the building leaving her young daughter behind. Following the incident, Rosello never called 911 for help but instead flagged down a car to take her to a friend’s house. Meanwhile, Rosello allegedly believed her daughter had burned to death. After the incident, the mother told authorities that she believed her daughter was already dead and consumed by the fire when she left and thought there was nothing more that could be done for the child at the time. However, witnesses say the child was screaming for help, indicating she had not died, and they say that the mother never attempted to offer personal aid or call for help as the fire raged inside.

A neighbor at the scene says that he called 911 and pulled the fire alarm after he saw Erica Rosello abruptly leaving her apartment with smoke billowing out from underneath the door. The neighbor says he asked Rosello if there was a fire inside and she denied it, instead trying to flee the area. He claims he then asked if anyone else was inside the apartment and she informed him that her six-year-old daughter was inside. The neighbor quickly called for help and pulled the fire alarm, but Erica did not stay at the scene. Instead, the mother fled to a friend’s house as the fire consumed her apartment with her daughter inside.

Fortunately, firefighters would arrive quickly to the scene and rescue the little girl from the burning apartment. Grace would suffer smoke inhalation but make a full recovery. As firefighters rescued young Grace, Rosello made her way to a friend’s house where she finally got the nerve to call her mother and inform her that Grace had died in a fire. However, to Erica’s surprise, when she contacted her mother to break the news, she was informed that Grace was not dead and was being treated for smoke inhalation at a local children’s hospital.

Following the fire accident, police charged Erica Rosello with child neglect for leaving the child in the burning apartment alone and fleeing the scene. Erica Rosello’s mother, Angelica Tabio, is now speaking out for her daughter, noting that she is “not a monster” but suffering from depression. Tabio has been charged with caring for six-year-old Grace now that her daughter Erica is facing child neglect charges. However, Tabio says that Erica is not a bad mother and has always done the best she can despite suffering from postpartum depression.

“But my daughter did not do that because at the time she was not thinking normally. Her mind was not right because of the depression. All I know is that when Erica left the apartment she thought her daughter was dead. That was why she left because in her mind there was nothing that could be done for her.”

Tabio says that she believes it is her daughter’s depression that led to her actions and that she should not be charged with neglect as she loves her daughter.

“At the time she was not thinking normally. Her mind was not right because of the depression. All I know is that when Erica left the apartment she thought her daughter was dead. That was why she left because in her mind there was nothing that could be done for her.”

What do you think about the mother’s claims that Erica left the child in the burning apartment due to depression?

[Image via Shutterstock]

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