Mom on probation for apartment fire that killed 3 children

Editor's note: This clip is from Oct. 22, 2019

ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis mother will be serving three years of probation after her three children—who were left unattended—died in an apartment fire.

According to a plea agreement with prosecutors at St. Louis 22nd Circuit Court, 29-year-old Dajuana Coleman pleaded guilty on Friday to three counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter in regard to the tragedy, which occurred in the Clinton-Peabody housing complex in the 1100 block of South Street on Oct. 22, 2019.

In court, prosecutors said “there was a risk of fire,” citing that one of Coleman’s children was “known to play with a cigarette lighter and that the fire appeared to have started on a mattress where the child slept.”

Coleman was indicted in October 2022 for fatal child endangerment, resulting in the death of Dream, 5; Heaven, 4; and Damarion, six months old.

Prosecutors, however, amended those charges in exchange for a guilty plea.

Court records say this plea agreement was for a suspended 10-year prison sentence and to serve probation. If Coleman violates probation, she could go to prison for up to 10 years.