Mother admits to setting house on fire in attempt to kill two-year-old daughter

Youngster was found in smoke-filled Syracuse house with ‘soot in her nose’

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A New York mother has admitted intentionally setting her house on fire to kill her two-year-old daughter.

Jennelle Gerton, 33, set fire to several phones and other electronic devices at the property in Syracuse and denied the youngster was inside, according to officials.

Prosecutors say that police officers were first called to a domestic incident on 4 March, 2021, where they found Gerton arguing with Eric Bowens, 56, about the whereabouts of their daughter.

Mr Bowens told police he had left the child with her mother, but when he returned she had told him that she was alone and the youngster was with a grandparent.

Officers decided to check the house, which was nearby, but when they arrived  “they heard they heard smoke detectors and smelled smoke.”

Officers broke a window to get into the property and found a mattress blocking a window near the main entrance and the property filled with smoke.

Officers searched the house and found the child “with soot in her nose.”

“The investigation revealed that Gerton had caused a fire in a bathroom and left the house while leaving her child behind,” police stated.

Prosecutors admitted the motive was unclear but that they believed it was over a dispute with the child’s father.

Gerton pleaded guilty to attempted murder on Wednesday and was warned she faces eight years in prison, which will be extended to between 11 and 14 years after she was found to be illegally in possession of a rifle.

She will be sentenced in May.