GREELEY – A man and woman charged with the death of a 3-year-old girl who died in a mobile home fire Saturday evening both had criminal records in Wyoming and were allegedly drinking and smoking marijuana before the blaze, according to their arrest warrant.
A preliminary investigation showed that Lileigh Kellenaers, 3, was left in the mobile home alone when the fire started. She was pronounced dead at the hospital early the next morning.
Her mother, Kristen Braig, 27, and her boyfriend, Dustin Blanchard, 35, have been charged with child abuse- criminal negligence resulting in death. Braig has been arrested three times in Wyoming – with one misdemeanor conviction. Police say Blanchard's criminal record includes at least six arrests and four misdemeanor convictions in Wyoming since 2004.
Braig has been released on a $10,000 bond. Blanchard remains in custody on a $40,000 bond.
PHOTOS: DC Area Mug Shots
According to the affidavit, Blanchard told police that he and Braig had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol on the front porch for about 15 minutes while the toddler slept inside. Blanchard said he then went to a neighbor's house, and Braig said she went there to ask him to come home.
When Braig started heading back home, she told police that she smelled smoke and immediately knew that something was burning. According to the affidavit, she tried to brave the smoke and come inside, before running back outside and to the back of the trailer, where Kellenaers was asleep in the back bedroom.
Police say she tried to pull an air conditioner from the bedroom window but couldn't. The affidavit says she then broke a window, cutting her hands in the process. Braig said she tried to crawl into the window but couldn't because it was too slippery.
Sometime during Braig's struggles, the affidavit says Blanchard ran toward her and said her couldn't find the 3-year-old inside the burning trailer. He then ran back to the neighbors' house and returned with another man, and they reentered the burning structure.
Blanchard told police he later found Kellenaers in the bedroom, and that he threw her out of the window before jumping out himself.
When officers arrived at the scene, they say they saw the neighbor walking away from the scene with the child in his arms, and saw Blanchard stumble away toward a nearby trailer.
A neighbor told police that when Blanchard arrived, he said "she's dead," according to the affidavit.
Police say the man put the 3-year-old on a car hood and tried to administer CPR. According to the affidavit, she had burns over 60 percent of her body.
Officers later found Blanchard in a bathtub in their neighbors' trailer with what looked like soot on his face and hands. They say he was coughing and wheezing, and later taken to the hospital for treatment.
When asked what caused the fire, Blanchard allegedly told police that he'd tacked a bandana to a light mounted to the living room ceiling, since the light was too bright while they were watching a movie.
He told police that when he first went into the mobile home, the fire seemed to be burning around the light, and he believes that's what caused the fire.
Police say the girl's grandmother also lived in the trailer, but was in Fort Collins when the fire started.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Kellenaers' father to help pay for funeral expenses: http://bit.ly/1xOQ7pz.
(KUSA-TV © 2015 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)
