Mother faces felony charges in fire that injured three children

A 21-year-old mother was arrested Tuesday night in connection with an apartment fire last week that endangered her three children, Las Vegas police said Wednesday.

The children, age 5 and younger, were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. They were unsupervised at the time of the blaze.

According to Clark County Detention Center records, Jessica Warthen was booked on three felony counts of child neglect with substantial bodily harm. She remained in jail Wednesday night on no bail.

Warthen's arrest report said police focused on why her children were home alone.

Detectives honed in on Warthen and the baby sitter of her children, Gary Layton.

Warthen's initial story that she had called Layton, who lived in her building, and asked him to baby-sit before the fire was disproved by police, the report said.

About 8:15 p.m. on Feb. 15, Las Vegas firefighters responded to a blaze at the Hidden Village Apartments, near Bruce Street and Charleston Boulevard.

Warthen's children, 3-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, and a 5-year-old boy, were unconscious when they were rescued from the apartment and were hospitalized in critical condition. They recently were released from University Medical Center.

At first, Warthen told police that shortly after placing the phone call to Layton, they passed each other in the building's stairwell as Layton headed to her apartment.

During an interview days later, Warthen changed her story and admitted to police that she had left her children alone, the report said.

"Warthen stated she left her three children home alone," the report said. "She said that she had told her three children to go lay down. Warthen stated that she thought her children were asleep because it was quiet in their bedroom, but she did not open the bedroom door and check on them before she left the apartment."

Surveillance footage placed Layton at the Fremont Street Experience just before 7:37 p.m., when Warthen said she and Layton spoke on the phone.

Officers also saw Layton running from Fremont Street to his nearby apartment just after the fire began, the report said.

Layton told the Review-Journal the day after the fire that he did speak with Warthen on the phone before the blaze. He said he called her to ask to be paid for his baby-sitting.

The report said police confiscated three cellphones from Layton. They also confiscated Warthen's cellphone.

Warthen was visiting a friend before the blaze.

According to the report, it appears her children were left alone about 40 minutes before the fire started.

Fire Department officials said the accidental blaze was caused by Warthen's children, who were playing with a lighter or matches.

A mattress in the apartment caught fire.

The children were found in another room. One child was on a bed and the other two were on the floor.

The fire caused $5,000 in damages.

It was unclear Wednesday who has custody of Warthen's children.

Warthen was arrested by North Las Vegas police the night of the fire on an unrelated charge.

North Las Vegas police spokeswoman Chrissie Coon said Warthen was cited Nov. 5 at a Walmart for petty theft after being accused of shoplifting boys clothing.

When she failed to show up for a court date in connection with the misdemeanor, an arrest warrant was issued for her. Warthen was booked on the warrant shortly after the fire.

She was jailed at the North Las Vegas Detention Center until Tuesday night, when she posted $1,337 bail, Coon said.

Las Vegas police arrested her shortly after that in connection with the fire.

Warthen is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court this morning .