Texas Mom Allegedly Set Home on Fire with Infant Inside — and Then Texted Photos to Baby’s Father
May 4, 2018An 18-year-old mother was arrested in Texas earlier this week, accused of setting an intentional fire at her home while her infant child was inside.
Several media outlets are reporting that Israel Reyes, who has been charged with arson and child endangerment, allegedly started the fire after a fight with her boyfriend, the 2-month-old’s father.
The San Antonio Express-News, citing an affidavit, reports that Reyes allegedly started the fire in the kitchen of her San Antonio home on March 2 at around 11 p.m.
She allegedly sent pictures of the fire to her boyfriend as it grew, according to FOX29.
Reyes was released on $30,000 bond. Efforts to reach her and her attorney were unsuccessful Friday.
According to KSAT, the boyfriend alleged to police that Reyes spent much of the day before the fire damaging items in their home, including a television.
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He had called police to the home to check on Reyes, but she was not detained at the time.
Firefighters were summoned to the house to extinguish the blaze. Reyes and the infant were unharmed in the incident.
The San Antonio Express-News reports that the affidavit alleges the first “picture showed a purple towel and a roll of toilet paper on fire. A few minutes later [the boyfriend] received another text with a picture of the same fire in a larger state of combustion.
“[Reyes] intentionally started a fire with the knowledge that the fire was located on property belonging to another and was reckless about whether the burning would endanger the lives of her infant daughter and persons living in the adjoining properties,” the affidavit states, according to the Express-News.
“Additionally, the defendant recklessly engaged in conduct that placed her child in imminent danger of death, bodily injury or physical or mental impairment.”