Mariah Thomas Sentenced to 13 Years in Infant’s Death

Mariah Thomas pleaded guilty on September 22 to first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death and was sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to court records. The first-degree murder charge against her was dismissed under the plea agreement, and the sentence carries no probation. Thomas, 28, entered the plea in Jackson County District Court. The case involved the February 2024 death of her infant daughter, ZaRiah Mae Thomas, who was about eight weeks old. Court documents say the child had burn injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene after first responders arrived at a Kansas City home. Investigative documents and witness accounts described how the child came to be injured. A relative told investigators that Thomas said she thought she had put the baby in her crib but had accidentally placed her in an oven instead. That account comes from witness recollections and investigative records; the plea establishes Thomas’s guilt on the child-endangerment charge but does not independently establish the circumstances of the incident. Police were called to the home on February 9, 2024, after a report that an infant was not breathing.