HOUSTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Houston child-care provider Jessica Tata was sentenced to 80 years in prison for the death of one of four toddlers killed in a fire at her day-care facility.
Tata, 24, displayed no emotion when Texas District Judge Marc Brown read the sentence Tuesday, The Houston Chronicle reported.
Tata was on trial only in the death of Elias Castillo, 16 months. Also killed in the 2011 day-care fire were 3-year-old Shomari Leon Dickerson, 20-month-old Kendyll Stradford and 19-month-old Elizabeth Kajoh.
She also declined to speak when asked if she wished to do so. Her attorney, Mike DeGeurin, said Tata's decision to keep silent was because she still faces several charges for the deaths and injuries of the other children.
Prosecutor Steven Baldassano said the district attorney's office would move forward with the cases of the other three dead children, depending on the status of any appeals.
DeGeurin said he would appeal.
Prosecutors said Tata left a pot of oil on a hot burner, which caught fire after she left children at her day care alone to go shopping.
Patty Sparks, Castillo's great-grandmother, said she hopes the state will perform better background checks of day-care owners as a result of the fire, the Chronicle reported.
"My heart goes out to the Tata family," Sparks said. "And of course, the mothers and fathers that lost their family members."
