The man accused of endangering the lives of 27 children by causing a fire at a Cleveland daycare pleaded guilty in court on Monday. James Carpe
The man accused of endangering the lives of 27 children by causing a fire at a Cleveland daycare pleaded guilty in court on Monday.
James Carpenter was arrested last year following a fire at Little Lambs Child Care Center.
Carpenter admitted to police that he was drunk at the time of the fire and his attorney said he had a blood alcohol content of 0.22 the day of the fire, which is almost three times the legal limit to drive.
“The jury could have certainly concluded that he endangered those children by his impaired state,” Ken Miller, Carpenter’s attorney, said to a criminal court judge Monday.
Carpenter was indicted on 27 counts of child endangerment and one count of reckless burning.
He pleaded guilty to the 27 counts of endangerment and the charge of reckless burning was dismissed.
“They’re learning to cope with it,” said Domanek Watson, whose daughters were two of 27 children who were inside of the daycare when the fire broke out. “They’re at a new school.”
Last February, Carpenter told investigators he had taken two shots and multiple beer when a fire broke out at the daycare in Cleveland.
“For him to plead guilty and to be actually be held accountable,” Watson said. “I mean, that’s a blessing from God.”
No one was hurt; however, the police report from the incident initially said that the daycare owner refused to evacuate the building.
Carpenter’s attorney Ken Miller refuted that evidence before his client’s guilty plea.
“Mr. Russ Tackett was going to evacuate the children, but he wanted to move his truck, which had just been filled up with gasoline and was right next to the fire first and the officer misinterpreted that as a refusal to evacuate the children. They did [evacuate]. The staff there did eventually evacuate.”
Investigators determined the cause of the fire was “carelessness and smoking.”
Almost a year later, Watson said her children are still shaken up by the fire, and she still has a hard time fully trusting people with her daughters.
“Yes, it was a bad situation, but not all situations are going to be like that,” she said. “You can’t base it off of one bad situation.”
Carpenter’s trial was scheduled to start on January 10. He is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on April 4.
