(Memphis) A Memphis mother whose two young sons died in a house fire while she was shopping had another baby this week.
Melodia Dunn pleaded guilty to Aggravated Child Abuse charges after her children’s death in 2009.
She was supposed to be in court today for violating her probation, but the district attorney’s office said she was in the hospital after having a baby.
“This is a very tragic thing that happened,” said Linda Tate, who remembers when the home three doors down from where she works burned, killing two toddlers.
Dunn never served any hard jail time. “No justice has been served then,” said Tate.
In the meantime, Dunn got pregnant and had a baby, according to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.
“To go and have another child, I mean, all of us should be very concerned because this is a serious matter,” Tate argued.
Vince Higgins, a spokesperson for the DA’s office, says prosecutors pushed hard for Dunn to get jail time to keep something like this from happening, but because Dunn had no previous record, a judge was able to give her 14-years of probation with mental health evaluations and treatment.
Higgins says the child will likely be taken by the Department of Child Services. That’s an idea, Tate believes, is best for the child, “She shouldn’t be liable to be around any children; the safety, the welfare, that’s what’s wrong now. We as a community, we should get together and protest about this. This is a very serious matter.”
UPDATE: A spokesperson for DCS says that despite the guilty plea, Dunn could keep custody of her new baby. It all depends on what the judge does about her recent violation of probation. If the judge throws Dunn in jail, DCS would likely step in then.
There is no word yet on when Dunn will be in court again.
