GREENSBORO, N.C. — The mother of three young children who died in a North Carolina house fire last month has been charged with child abuse related to the blaze, according to authorities.
Brandi Sturdivant, 28, was in the Greensboro Detention Center on Saturday on a $150,000 bond after being accused Friday of three felony abuse counts, according to jail records.
A warrant accuses Sturdivant of leaving her 4-year-old son and 1-year-old twin boys alone at the Greensboro home before it caught fire Dec. 12, WGHP-TV reported.
The causes of the fire and the deaths remain under investigation, Greensboro police spokeswoman Josie Cambareri said. It wasn’t immediately known if Sturdivant has an attorney.
[ PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Officials: 3 kids under 5 dead after NC house fire ]
Sturdivant said previously she was outside the home when the fire began, but later said she “barely made it out,” the News & Record of Greensboro reported.
“I tried to go back in and get my babies, but there was no way. It was too smoky,” Sturdivant said on Dec. 20.
Sturdivant was arrested Nov. 1 on a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a child, related to an investigation into home conditions observed in September, the newspaper reported. She was released from jail and a court hearing postponed until April.
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