A mother and father are wanted on manslaughter charges. Houma police say they left their toddlers alone in the middle of the night and were not there to help when the home went up in flames.
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One day after 2-year-old Romell Welsh and 1-year-old Ro’Miya Welsh were laid to rest their parents face manslaughter charges.
Family friend Naomie James says, “That’s sad, you know. Life goes on, you know. Justice has been done.”
The charred house on the 500 block of Hobson Street in Houma is a painful reminder. The coroner’s office says the two toddlers died of smoke inhalation as their home went up in flames
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Now police are holding their parents responsible saying Romell Welsh Sr. and Vaneshia Valentine were caught by surveillance cameras leaving the two home alone that night. Police say they left about 30 to 45 minutes before flames erupted; leaving a one-year-old and two-year-old to fend for themselves.
Lt. Dana Coleman with Houma Police says, “A one-year-old and a two-year-old shouldn’t be left unattended at all, and that’s why we went with the charge of manslaughter.”
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It’s a difficult scene for their great grandmother, Linda Young, who now tries to hold on to the good memories.
“Romell, he loved the candy, and he loved the caillou, so they got a little puppy and named him Caillou. Ro’Miya, she was premature, but she was just starting to get up and she was a little frisky and happy babies. They were happy babies,” says Young.
The Houma Fire Department says the fire started in the kitchen. They say the parents threw some clothes that had caught fire in the trash can, and the fire inspector believes the clothes must have still been smoldering.
[....]the mother says “she expected” the charges.
