Woman facing charges after baby found in burning apartment

MONTREAL — A woman who allegedly left a baby alone in a Montreal apartment that caught fire pleaded not guilty Friday to three criminal charges.

Josee Milot, 49, appeared in court by video conference and was charged with unlawfully abandoning a child, criminal negligence causing a fire, and with failing to provide the necessities of life to a child.

Police believe she started cooking something on the stove and then left the apartment when she was meant to be acting as the baby’s temporary guardian.

Officers are being credited with saving the baby’s life as they happened to be nearby and responded quickly to the fire early Thursday morning.

Police say officers crawled on the ground through dense smoke to reach the apartment where they found the infant alone.

The child was taken to hospital but emerged unscathed. Eight officers were also bothered by the smoke, with four being sent to hospital.

Milot’s lawyer, Antonio Cabral, said his client has had a difficult life.

“This is someone who has not had an easy time of it,” said Cabral, who has represented her for about 10 years. “She comes from an underprivileged background and has (consumption) problems.”

Crown prosecutor Roxane Laporte opposed Milot’s release.

“She put the life of this child in danger and that’s mostly the reason why the Crown objected,” she said. “And she has multiple prior convictions and a lot of pending charges.”

Milot remains detained until at least Tuesday, when she is scheduled to return to court for a bail hearing.