Appeals for leniency failed to move a Texas judge who delivered a harsh sentence of 80 years behind bars for Nigerian-American Jessica Tata,convicted in the death of a childkilled in a fire at her home day care in Houston, Texas.

Eight witnesses testified for Tata in the punishment phase ofthe trial on Friday. Twenty two witnesses testified for the prosecution, alleging that she ran an unclean facility where dirty diapers and vomit were strewn on the floor. The deceased child, 16-month-old Elias Castillo, succumbed to a fire ignited when Tata went shopping and left a pan of oil cooking on the stove.

The incident, which took place in February 2011, also left threeother children seriously injured.

During the trial which began Oct. 24, surveillance video was presented that showed her shopping at Target just before the fire occurred. A former Target manager told jurors that Tata did not seem to be in a hurry even after realizing she had left the stove top burner onwhile the kids were at the day care.

Neighbors testified they heard the children crying during their unsuccessful attempts to rescue them from the blaze. Parents of the children who died or were injured told jurors they had trusted Tata, believing she was qualified.

Tata’s attorneys say she never intended to hurt the children, who ranged in age from 16 months to 3 years old, and that she tried to save them.

Among those testifying at the trial was Jessica’s sister Jennifer who defended her sibling but acknowledged she was “hard to handle” as a teenager and didn’t get along with their parents

Tata fled to Nigeria after the fire but was captured there after about a month and returned to the U.S. in March 2011. She has remained jailed since then. Tata was born in the U.S. but has Nigerian citizenship.

Her brother, Ronald Tata, told jurors it was his idea for his sister to go to Nigeria to get advice from their father, who lived there. He said their mother didn’t want his sister to go because “it would look bad.”

Ronald Tata said his sister should be held accountable for what she did, but he also asked the jury for mercy. “I believe in justice and not vengeance,” he said.

Tata also faces three additional felony murder counts and other charges in relation to the other children killed and injured in the fire.


http://www.punchng.com/news/nigerian-nanny-jailed-80-years-in-us/

Damn!!
That's the end of her life...

That's if she can live 80 years with her present age.

well she may not be Nigerian, Tata is an indian name, except she married an indian

Bye bye nanny till you rest in peace

Some terrible yawa to be in

She was actually careless, but 80 years is quite a whole heap of being behind the bar.. No leniency

Na wa oooo.. She was even a Nigerian American, I wonder the number of years she would have gotten if she was just a Nigerian

Some people are heartless and vengeance is the only word in their payback dictionary, God have mercy on her,uphold her, and see her thru her confinement period.

Indeed, to err is human,but to forgive is divine.

Nigerian police captured her and sent her back? Morons. If the reverse was d case, americans wont send their citizen to nigeria.

ochallo: well she may not be Nigerian, Tata is an indian name, except she married an indian

I couldn't have said that better.. Do you reside there?

lankspex: Some terrible yawa to be in

i tell u ma broda

She is not Nigerian...she is an American!

ochallo: well she may not be Nigerian, Tata is an indian name, except she married an indian

read well, her siblings also answer Tata

Tamita: She is not Nigerian...she is an American!

oh o, if she was been given a medal of honour, u would want to claim her as naija abi?

FOoolish!!! FoOolish!!!
When did nigeria start to repatriate its citizen to USA...I don't get it..china will never do that....can america repatriate its citizen to nigeria if he fled nigeria to USA...am begining to av a second thought about my citizenship of nigeria..time will tell...soon....

This is direct RIP.

Oyibo nawaa.

Hmmm na wao. After escaping to Naija, how the hell did they captured her again? I cant believe someone cannot get lost in Naija...unless na mu.gu she be.

Btw i'm not supporting her ooo... Its her carelessnesss that caused the disaster that led to the death of the poor kids...

Why do I have ds fEeling the "nigerian" part of her citizenry earned her d whooping 80yrs . Stay well Nanny, shaddy Biz don't pay

they found out she is a nigerian and jail her for 80yrs in revenge of the attempted suicide bombing of u.s.a plane by nigerian farouk or maybe they think nigerians are like that

topsyking: FOoolish!!! FoOolish!!!
When did nigeria start to repatriate its citizen to USA...I don't get it..china will never do that....can america repatriate its citizen to nigeria if he fled nigeria to USA...am begining to av a second thought about my citizenship of nigeria..time will tell...soon....

Really? Have you thought about denaturalizing yourself from being a Nigerian to Sudanese or something?

You might give that a shot.

I prefer to commit a crime in south africa and europe than america...if u kill someone in europe or south africa, u get 7yrs jail..in america U get 15yrs or life jail..
Recently a banker was jail for 7yrs for gambling with bank money..if na america 80yrs jail

This is surely a lesson for all those babes wey think say dem hard and fit do wetin dem like..

If such act was being carried out in 9ja d punishmnt meted out wil nt b dis much.. D culprit wil even walk freely!
A lessn 2 nigerian jury..

ghettodreamz:

Really? Have you thought about denaturalizing yourself from being a Nigerian to Sudanese or something?

You might give that a shot.

Are you ok...from fry pan to fire...

Quite a Harsh one.

They should've just said "Life Imprisonment" because 80years is so long.

Even if she makes it out alive. . .

what a way to end a life!!

must you add "nigerian" when it comes to anything negative? Nationals of other countries around the world commit crimes where they are aliens but go their websites and you wont see what you see here on nairaland. The problem with us is, we always think we are suppose to be angels thats why we report every single misdeed a nigerian does outside

bemagnify: If such act was being carried out in 9ja d punishmnt meted out wil nt b dis much.. D culprit wil even walk freely!
A lessn 2 nigerian jury..

IN NIGERIA SHE WILL BE LYNCHED AND BURNT ALIVE. ANYWAY SHE SHOULD HOLD TIGHT. AMERICA WILL SOON BE DESTROYED IN WW3 AND ALL THE JAILS WILL BE OPENED AND THE CELL-MATES RELEASED.

@Post

Her own don finish be that. Anyways, she might be able to re-appeal and get a lighter sentence but Texas has very harsh laws. She is even lucky they did not give her the death penalty because Texas executes criminals found guilty of certain crimes quickly.

obadiah777: IN NIGERIA SHE WILL BE LYNCHED AND BURNT ALIVE. ANYWAY SHE SHOULD HOLD TIGHT. AMERICA WILL SOON BE DESTROYED IN WW3 AND ALL THE JAILS WILL BE OPENED AND THE CELL-MATES RELEASED.

Yep! well said. Anyone who is conversant with the bible (God's word) knows that mystery Babylon (America) will be destroyed in 1 hour when the time comes. It says so in the book of Daniel.

dasparrow:

Yep! well said. Anyone who is conversant with the bible (God's word) knows that mystery Babylon (America) will be destroyed in 1 hour when the time comes. It says so in the book of Daniel.

YUP YOU RIGHT. AND I CAN SEE THE SIGNS ALREADY. I DONT THINK THAT COUNTRY HAS MORE THAN 2 YEARS AT MOST BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION. WE ARE AT THE END

Na only God fit help her.

She is nigerian and was born in america. she is ikwerre by origin, from eliowhani in port harcourt. she runs a day care in houston but i think she shouldn't be stabbed by some of us here on nairaland. it could happen to any of our siblings here in america. long live naijas in yankee.