LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
The mother of three children who were pulled from a burning apartment last week has been charged with felony child abuse.
Jessica Warthen, 21, was arrested by North Las Vegas police the night of the Feb. 15 fire in connection with a shoplifting charge from last November.
After a court appearance on Tuesday, she was arrested a second time by Las Vegas Metro police, who claim she left her children -- ages three to five -- alone in her apartment the night it was destroyed by fire.
Investigators said the fire was started by a child playing with matches or a lighter.
The three children were rescued from the burning apartment and transported to University Medical Center with critical smoke inhalation injuries.
Police said Warthen pleaded guilty to petty larceny in connection with the North Las Vegas shoplifting case. She was fined $1,000.
On Wednesday she was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on three counts of felony child abuse with substantial bodily harm.
The three children were released from the hospital on Monday.
"It's a relief to know that the kids are good, and she's behind bars, as sad as it is," said neighbor Mary Peterson, who was the first to discover the fire. "But (Warthen) needed to take her responsibility to do what she needed to do."
"What was so important out in the street that she had to leave the kids by themselves?" asked another neighbor, Warren Wynder.
Police urge anyone with information on the fire to contact the LVMPD Abuse and Neglect Detail at 702-828-3364 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
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