Mom pleads guilty in fire that killed her two toddlers
A mother whose two toddlers died in a fire while home alone has pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and says her daughters’ deaths are “a feeling I can’t forget.”
Haya Konte made her first public remarks about the events to The New York Times for a story Sunday. Court records show she entered the plea Feb. 7 and is due for sentencing next month.
The Times says Konte, who is in the U.S. illegally, won’t go to prison but agreed to leave the country. The 29-year-old was born in France and grew up in Gambia.
Investigators said burning incense caused the deadly blaze in her Bronx public housing apartment in April 2016.
Konte was doing laundry across the street. She says she thought a roommate was home.