Mother pleads guilty in deaths of twins who died in fire while she was buying pot
BATAVIA, N.Y. -- The mother of twin toddler boys who died in a western New York house fire while she left them alone to buy marijuana has pleaded guilty in connection to their deaths.
Heather Ace, 25, pleaded guilty Monday in Batavia Town Court to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors say the potential punishment -- a fine and up to a year in jail -- is the same whether she’d pleaded guilty to one or two counts.
Michael and Micah Gard, both 2 years old, were killed when Ace’s Batavia home caught fire last May.
Authorities say Ace had left the boys alone for about 90 minutes while she went out to buy pot and an alcoholic drink.
Ace received two calls and a text from her mother around 10 p.m. that night, according to CBS Buffalo affiliate WIVB, telling her that her home was on fire.
Officials in Genesee County said that Ace was in no way suspected of starting the fire, the cause of which has not been determined.
Ace waved her right to an appeal and faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
She will be sentenced on the morning of May 22.