Deputies: Disabled teen was alone, locked in bed as house burned
A Maries County mother faces child endangerment and murder charges in the death of her 14-year-old, disabled daughter.
Tracy Ellis was booked into the Maries County Jail on Tuesday, accused of causing the teen’s death through criminal negligence during a fire Sunday afternoon on County Road 438 in St. James.
A probable cause statement said Ellis left the 14-year-old home alone on the day of the fire.
The nature of the teen’s disabilities prevented her from walking and speaking, according to the sheriff.
When first responders arrived, they learned that the teen was still inside the burning, single-wide trailer home and attempted to enter it.
Court documents said a bookcase and dresser were blocking the window and the fire and smoke were too intense for anyone to get inside. Firefighters were eventually able to enter the trailer through the use of a crowbar-like tool and found the teen’s remains.
“Upon observation of the bed, I noted it contained a front gate with wooden boards affixed,” an investigator wrote in the probable cause statement filed Wednesday. “The wooden gate was installed with a metal spring-loaded hasp, only accessible from the outside of the bed, preventing [the teen] from getting out.”
The 14-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
Maries County Deputy Kenneth Kilmer , who wrote the probable cause statement, said the criminal charges stemmed from Ellis’ negilgence in abandoning her disabled daughter for several hours, leaving the teen with no means of taking care of herself, let alone escape from a burning building.
While interviewing Ellis, investigators say she described her daughter’s condition, saying she had to be fed pureed food and could not feed herself.
“She would scream like some sort of zombie,” the probable cause statement attributed to Ellis. “It was horrible.”
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An autopsy performed on the teen’s body revealed soot in her throat, indicating that she was concious when the fire happened.
The Missouri Department of Family Services conducted a 2017 investigation into a reported lack of supervision of the teen.
Ellis also had been previously cited with a traffic violation for failing to secure a person under the age of 16.
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ABC 17 News confirmed with the Maries County court that Ellis will be arraigned as early as Thursday morning.
Funeral services for the tean are set for Friday in Rolla .
