Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
March 5, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — A Kansas City woman has been charged with abuse of two children, one of whom was found dead in the woman’s residence.

According to a press release from Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, Marie J. Chishahayo, 35, has been charged with four counts of child abuse or neglect, each a class B felony.

According to court documents, police were dispatched to the 1300 block of Vine St. on Thursday, March 5, for a report of a burned child. One child, a two-year-old, was found deceased and a second child, a three-year-old, was transported to a local hospital. Two other children, nine and four-years-old, were found inside uninjured.

A man who identified himself as the mother’s brother stated he last saw his sister and her four children on Thursday, March 5, and he observed no problems. He reported that a church van tried to pick the mother and her children up on Sunday, March 1, but no one answered the door. The mother also didn’t answer repeated phone calls from family. The man told police he went to the residence on Vine Street on Thursday, March 5, and the nine-year-old boy answered the door and, “the house was in disarray.”

When he went upstairs, he found one child under a blanket. As he moved the blanket, the three-year-old child stated, “mommy your hurting me, stop it.” He then found the other child, who was deceased.

The mother, according to court records, told police she did not hit the children. Instead, she said the nine-year-old child had struck the others. She said the boy stated he heated a knife and burned one of the other children all over the child’s body. She said she allowed him to do this because god had told him to do so. After further questioning, she admitted she struck both children, using a long plastic rod on one. She added that she hit the other because the child would not get out of bed. The mother also said she saw the nine-year-old pick up the deceased child and throw the child against the wall.

Prosecutors have requested a bond of $250,000. The case remains under investigation and prosecutors will assess upon completion of a medical examiner’s report whether to amend charges.