Authorities find boy, 5, alone after responding to house fire
By Times Staff Writer
Published December 19, 2003
SPRING HILL - A 26-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday after the Sheriff's Office said she left her 5-year-old son unattended in a house that later caught fire.
The boy, whose name is being withheld by authorities because of his age, was not injured in the fire.
Authorities arrested Kirstin Wright and charged her with felony child neglect and obstruction of justice.
She was released from Hernando County Jail at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday after posting $1,500 bail.
Around 9 a.m. Wednesday, authorities responded to a report of a house fire in Spring Hill. When they arrived on the scene, they saw smoke spewing from the home, a sheriff's report said.
The fire had started in the minor's bedroom, the report stated. The youngster was standing outside.
About 25 minutes later, Wright arrived at the scene and told authorities that she thought her son was sleeping in the back of her sport utility vehicle when she left earlier that morning.
She said she did not realize the boy was not in the vehicle until she saw the fire engines and police cruisers, a report said.
Sheriff's deputies later arrested Wright when they found out that she purposely left the boy in the house, while he was asleep, the report stated.
The case was forwarded to the Department of Children and Families.
