The mother of the toddler boy who died in a house fire on Christmas Eve in Craig has entered a plea of Not Guilty. According to a report from the Craig Daily Press, 26-year-old Vanessa Jenkins was arrested on April 3rd on the charge of Child Abuse Negligently Causing Death. According to the arrest warrant affidavit shared in the article, police responded to the home at 10:30am on Christmas Eve to find Jenkins outside the home yelling that her child was still inside. Crews could not make it to the room where the child was believed to be due to the smoke and fire. Investigation and the autopsy revealed that the boy was alive when the fire started and that a lighter was found near the child’s body. It was discovered that the 3-year-old boy had learned how to play with lighters in which the safety devices were removed and that Jenkins admitted that her son had already set fire in the house on a previous occasion. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation determined the fire was most likely started by the lighter being used by the boy. The court scheduled a trial for Jenkins to begin on December 16th.
