http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0415kidsdead0415.html

Parents held in 2 kids' deaths Phoenix girl, boy killed in fire after being left home alone

William Hermann and Karina Bland The Arizona Republic Apr. 15, 2006 12:00 AM

A Phoenix couple whose two children died in a house fire Thursday night while they were at work were arrested Friday afternoon.

Antonio Jorge Mejia, 27, and Maria Cruz Sanchez-Mejia, 28, were arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide, child abuse and child neglect, said Phoenix police Detective Tony Morales said.

"This was an extremely difficult decision for everyone involved in the arrest," Morales said. "A young couple was trying to make an honest living and were out working. But the bottom line is you can't leave children alone at home like they did and had done so several times before in recent weeks."

Pablo, 3, and his sister, Luz, 9, succumbed to smoke inhalation when a fire in the house began to smolder some time after the parents left for work at 11 p.m., police said.

The couple returned home from their jobs cleaning offices about 3 a.m. and found their children unconscious. They scooped them up and drove them to Phoenix Children's Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, police said.

The fire apparently did not go undetected. Phoenix police said a neighbor heard a smoke alarm go off in the apartment building where the children were, smelled smoke and knocked on the door of the house in front of the apartment.

For whatever reason, "there was no 911 call, no sort of notification that we know of," Morales said at the scene at 16th Avenue and Thomas Road.He called the incident "one of the saddest stories I've had to report; there is nothing good in this for anyone."

Experts say it's not uncommon for some parents to put their kids to bed and then go to work.

"It probably happens more often than anyone wants to think it happens," said Carol Kamin, director of Children's Action Alliance, a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix. "When people are desperate, they do things they know they shouldn't do."

Few child-care centers are open at night, and those that offer nighttime care often are expensive.

Parents are torn when they need to work to pay for food and housing, yet they can't afford child care and don't have family or friends who can help out, Kamin said. Sometimes, they leave their children alone.

"You just hope against hope that nothing will happen," she said.

It's a precarious position to put children in. State law provides no minimum age for leaving children home alone. Experts on childhood put it around age 12, though they stress some children won't be ready until later.

The real question is not age but a matter of maturity and responsibility, said Liz Barker, spokeswoman for the state Department of Economic Security, which includes Child Protective Services.

Would the child know what to do in an emergency? Are they able to care for younger children? Is there a neighbor or someone else nearby to turn to for help?

Leaving a child alone for an hour to run to the grocery store, with a neighbor at the ready to check on a child, is one thing, Barker said, but leaving children for long periods of time on a regular basis may not be in their best interest if they are young.

She noted that child-care subsidies are available from the state for low-income working families.

A decision is expected soon on whether charges will be filed against the Mejias. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office is reviewing the case.