Mom Admits Setting Fire, Tom And Jerry Off The Hook For Now

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 24th, 2012, 09:48 AM

Douglas County Prosecutors have charged a 10-year-old girl and her 12-year-old brother with arson.

They believe those children set a fire that has left their mother's boyfriend, Jermain Westbrooke, 37, in critical condition.

Juvenile Court Judge Christopher Kelly ordered Tayja Beard, 10, and Taveon C. Winston, 12, to remain in youth detention. Both are charged with first-degree arson.

According to testimony in juvenile court, investigators believe the children set a ring of gasoline around the bed where their mother and their mother's boyfriend, Jermain Westbrook, were sleeping, then set it on fire.

http://www.kptm.com/story/17243690/o...-arson-charges

Rick Martinson, a neighbor, went to the home to help after his wife woke him up to the screams. Martinson says when he got there he saw Westbrook badly burned and hanging out of a second story window.

"I was just telling him keep breathing and he just kept saying ok,please hurry, please hurry," says Martinson.

Half a block away, Joe Fuxa also heard Westbrook's screams and called police. After seeing him hanging out the back window, Fuxa, a retired Omaha Assistant Fire Chief grabbed a fire extinguisher from police and went inside.

"I went to the top of the stairs. Once I reached that point the heat was too hot to advance any farther, but I was able to get the extinguisher on the fire".
[...]
Fuxa says he heard Westbrook screaming out the name of person who did it.

"He was screaming for help and he was also screaming that it was somebody's fault," says Fuxa.

Westbrook, who suffered severe burns to nearly half of his body, was taken to Creighton University Medical Center in critical condition, then flown to the Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital Burn Center in Lincoln.

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/143953576.html

The children who set fire to the floor around the bed of their mother and her boyfriend early Friday may have been inspired by a children's cartoon they had been watching.

The 12-year-old boy and his 10-year-old sister who admitted setting the fire at their southwest Omaha home mentioned “Tom and Jerry” or some other cartoon in which a fire takes place, prosecutors say.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said authorities, including counselors and therapists, will be looking into whether there were deeper motives.

What's clear, Kleine said, is that the children used some sort of accelerant to encircle the bed, then started the fire. It left their mother's boyfriend, Jermaine Westbrook, in critical condition with severe burns.
[...]

The couple had been partying and had left four children in the care of an uncle. They returned home shortly before the fire and went to bed.

Two of the children were watching cartoons on television about 4:30 a.m. on Friday.

They then poured an accelerant, possibly gasoline, on the carpet in a ring around the bed and set it on fire.

That touched off a mad scramble. The mother, Tanesha Beard, awoke immediately but could not rouse Westbrook.

She and all the children escaped unharmed.
[...]

At a Friday juvenile court hearing, Judge Christopher Kelly placed the children with Youth Links, a program for at-risk youths that provides an out-of-home setting with a lower security level than the Douglas County Youth Center.

Beard, who was present, interrupted the hearing, claiming that she had set the fire. Douglas County sheriff's deputies escorted her out of the courtroom.

http://www.omaha.com/article/2012032...120329841/1199

**sugarfree irony** · March 24th, 2012, 12:07 PM

Blaming a cartoon for their behavior at 10 and 12 is not going to work unless they are mentally challenged . Sounds like they might have been ticked mom was out partying . I grew up watching Rocky and Bullwinkle it is a wonder I didn't kill someone

.

**TheMeaningOfItAll** · March 24th, 2012, 12:13 PM

The couple had been partying and had left four children in the care of an uncle. They returned home shortly before the fire and went to bed.

Two of the children were watching cartoons on television about 4:30 a.m. on Friday.

They then poured an accelerant, possibly gasoline, on the carpet in a ring around the bed and set it on fire.

That touched off a mad scramble. The mother, Tanesha Beard, awoke immediately but could not rouse Westbrook.

Sounds like the kids got sick and tired of their mother prioritizing the boyfriend and partying over them. I'm not excusing their behavior in any way, but for the thought process to be there at 10 and 12, I have to wonder what type of shit they were exposed to. I have a 9 year old and watching cartoons would never put the idea in her head to start shit on fire, let alone to get her siblings involved.

**Morbid** · March 24th, 2012, 01:20 PM

Omaha, NE –*A 10-year-old girl and her 12-year-old brother were charged with arson this week for starting a fire that left their mother’s boyfriend in critical condition, suffering burns to nearly half his body. According to prosecutors, the alleged firebugs and their two siblings had been left in the care of an uncle Thursday evening, while mom and her boyfriend went out partying.*The couple returned home shortly before the fire started and went to bed. After watching an episode of Tom and Jerry at about 4:30 Friday morning, prosecutors say the dangerous duo poured a*ring of gasoline around the bed where their mother and her boyfriend, 37-year-old Jermain Westbrook, were sleeping, then set it on fire. Mom, Tanesha Beard, awoke immediately, but was unable to rouse her sleeping beau. Beard and the children managed to escape the home unharmed. Westbrook, however, wasn’t so lucky. Firefighters rescued him from the second-story bedroom, but not before he had suffered smoke inhalation and third-degree burns to nearly half of his body. At a juvenile court hearing later that same day, Beard apparently interrupted the proceeding and declared that she was the one that set the fire. She was escorted out of the courtroom and her children were ordered held at Youth Links -**a program for at-risk youths that provides an out-of-home setting with a lower security level than the Douglas County Youth Center. Both children are now facing charges of*first-degree arson and two counts each of first-degree assault. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said authorities, including counselors and therapists, will be looking into whether there were “deeper” motives.
This article is from The Dreamin' Demon, the Internet's self-appointed buzzkill.

More...

**Shadow** · March 24th, 2012, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by TheMeaningOfItAll

Sounds like the kids got sick and tired of their mother prioritizing the boyfriend and partying over them. I'm not excusing their behavior in any way, but for the thought process to be there at 10 and 12, I have to wonder what type of shit they were exposed to. I have a 9 year old and watching cartoons would never put the idea in her head to start shit on fire, let alone to get her siblings involved.

I was thinking the exact same thing, @TheMeaningOfItAll. It seems to me like there is a lot more to this story than what the kids are saying. I'm sorry for the adults, but they couldn't be arsed to put the kids first, well.. what goes around comes around. You know?

~shadow

ps: Yes, I know it sounds calloused. I'm tired of these 'so called' parents that have children, then put the boyfriend/husband/whatever before the children. Particularly when they are at such an impressionable age. What message is it sending them? They aren't important enough for mom, who are they important to?

**cubby** · March 24th, 2012, 04:56 PM

Sounds to me like a case of child neglect to me. The adults in the house all asleep (passed out) while 4 kids are up and watching cartoons at 4:30 am, it wouldn't be long before they'd be wanting breakfast. Mom and BF just getting in from partying and then would the kids be on their own for the rest of the day or until they could get straight enough to be in charge of the kids. If Mom and BF had been awake these kids wouldn't have the opportunity to find and use an accelerant on them.

My kids always got up at Daylight, so I would get my big ole butt up and sit on the couch and at least pretend I was awake enough to know what was going on, no way would I have left them to run rampant while I was asleep way back in the bedroom.

**TheMorningStar** · March 24th, 2012, 04:59 PM

**SqueezeBoxx** · March 25th, 2012, 07:31 AM

You can just call me "Devil's advocate"

Seriously, nothing in that news article suggests the children were neglected. For all we know this could have been there first night out in 6 years. Maybe these kids are just living under the power struggle that comes from divorce and don't like moms new boyfriend telling them what to do. Maybe they really thought, since they watch too much tv and play too many videogames, that they would get out of it with singed eyebrows. Maybe they are just unruly little brats that need supernanny.

In the end, it sounded like mom tried to take the fall.

I WANT more info.... I NEED more info.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 25th, 2012, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by SqueezeBoxx

You can just call me "Devil's advocate"

Seriously, nothing in that news article suggests the children were neglected. For all we know this could have been there first night out in 6 years. Maybe these kids are just living under the power struggle that comes from divorce and don't like moms new boyfriend telling them what to do. Maybe they really thought, since they watch too much tv and play too many videogames, that they would get out of it with singed eyebrows. Maybe they are just unruly little brats that need supernanny.

Without more info, I had thought of that too. We don't know why they went out or how often they did it. They did leave the children with a sitter. While I find it odd that the kids were watching TV at 4:30am, I aslo know that when I, as Nana, have grandkids around I let them get by with all kinds of things. We don't know if the kids were awake all night or just woke up at an ungodly hour.

As far as the cartoon angle goes... I find it funny and doubtful. That being said, I also would not put anything past kids. Perhaps they had no reason other than making mischief? When pressured by authorities for a reason, they said something that in their minds made sense. After all, the cartoon I took the screen shot for the article was a scene where Tom wanted Jerry to get Jerry out of the bathroom, so he set a fire to flush him out. No one was hurt. But if pressured as to "Why did you do it?", they may have felt they weren't believed that they actually had no reason except they thought it would be funny.

What makes me especially curious is this:

Beard, who was present, interrupted the hearing, claiming that she had set the fire. Douglas County sheriff's deputies escorted her out of the courtroom.

The mom knew full well that if they believed her, she would be sitting in jail facing serious time. She didn't want her kids in the juvenile justice system and was willing to place herself in harms way instead. Not what we usually see of selfish cumdumpsters.

There may well be some serious problems in the home and that is being investigated. But so far, nothing has indicated abuse or neglect.

**cubby** · March 25th, 2012, 05:17 PM

Yeah you guys might be right, maybe we should cut mama some slack until we know more. But she has to know that what ONE child would never think of doing more than ONE will think is a wonderful idea, get to spread the guilt around, more of chance that parents will think the other one did it, etc, etc, been there, done that!

I have been guilty of my kids running semi-loose with me asleep on the couch, at least the opportunities to mess up were a little bit lessened because I sleep very light, and I only had two to keep track of. But still if they were alone watching TV, mama had to know this was a recipe for disaster. Hindsight is always 20-20.

My mother would have never been able to let the 4 of us watch TV unsupervised, even tho 3 of us would have never thought of something like this, my brother who was next in age to me, would have done something like this and thought it was funny and a great idea, and we all knew it. So he was never left with someone who was innocent or easily lead into trouble.

**Shadow** · March 25th, 2012, 06:05 PM

true story: The apartment across the street from us was burned out while I was at school one day. I returned home via the bus, which dropped me off right in front of this burned out apartment. When I asked the neighbors what happened, I was told: the woman who lives there with her 4yr old son and his cousin set fire to a bedroom. Now, these apartments were 3br/1ba 1 story apartments. The ones across the street where I lived, were two story. The fire had been allowed to burn long enough that it gutted the entire apartment. "Mom" said she was asleep on the sofa. Well, there was some indication among neighbors that either she wasn't there, or that she was drunk and passed out. I will never know as I was a teen and wasn't present at the time it happened. I didn't see her again after this. What the news paper printed was, "Mother was asleep on the sofa and her son grabbed her lighter off the coffee table and started the fire in one of the bedrooms." Fortunately everyone made it out alive. He was 4.. why would he light a bedroom on fire? His cousin was about a year older than him.. so maybe, just maybe it was something they saw on cartoons?

~shadow

**SqueezeBoxx** · March 25th, 2012, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by cubby

Yeah you guys might be right, maybe we should cut mama some slack until we know more. But she has to know that what ONE child would never think of doing more than ONE will think is a wonderful idea, get to spread the gulit around, more of chance that parents will think the other one did it, etc, etc, been there, done that!.

True, even kids are guilty of "mob mentality"

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 27th, 2012, 08:42 AM

What a turn!!!

A mother was arrested Monday on suspicion of first-degree arson after her two children initially were charged in the crime.

Relatives of the children said they didn't do it. They said the mother, Tanesha Beard, started the fire to hurt her boyfriend, and then blamed her children because she thought they would escape serious punishment.

Beard, 30, was jailed Monday on suspicion of arson and first-degree assault.

Douglas County District Attorney Don Kleine said earlier in the day that the investigation was continuing despite the confessions of the 12-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl.

“Now we've heard other versions, so we want to make sure what's right here,” Kleine said.

Richard Winston, a cousin of the children's father, said Beard blamed her children because “she thought they were going to get a slap on the hand, so she wouldn't have to go to jail for it.”

“She thought ‘We'll all go home and be one big happy family,' ” Winston said.

When the kids were charged with one count of first-degree arson and two counts of first-degree assault each, the mother tried to recant, Winston said.

Beard, who could not be reached for comment Monday, interrupted a juvenile court hearing Friday and claimed she set the fire. Douglas County sheriff's deputies removed her from the room.

The Friday fire left Beard's boyfriend, Jermaine Westbrook, in critical condition with third-degree burns. He was living with Beard and her four children at 13519 Atwood Ave.

Winston said Beard called the children's father, Cornelius Winston, after the fire and told him what happened.

http://www.omaha.com/article/2012032...97/703279935/0

**malq** · March 27th, 2012, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by Dakota Valkyrie

What a turn!!!

Richard Winston, a cousin of the children's father, said Beard blamed her children because “she thought they were going to get a slap on the hand, so she wouldn't have to go to jail for it.”

“She thought ‘We'll all go home and be one big happy family,' ” Winston said.

**Morbid** · March 27th, 2012, 11:30 AM

Omaha, NE*–*On Saturday, Jaded reported on the two brothers, ages 10 and 12-years-old, who were charged with arson and assault after a fire they set severely injured their mother’s boyfriend. Early reports were saying the kids didn’t mean to hurt anyone when they ignited the ring of gasoline they had poured around the bed their mother*and her boyfriend were sleeping in, they*were just mimicking a Tom and Jerry cartoon*they had watched. Their mother, 30-year-old*Tanesha Beard,*woke up and was able to get herself and her children out of the house unharmed but her boyfriend, 37-year-old Jermain Westbrook, wasn’t so lucky. She wasn’t able to rouse him and he had to be*rescued*by firefighters. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition suffering from *smoke inhalation and third-degree burns to nearly half of his body. The discussions immediately centered around cartoon violence and how this really isn’t anything new as violent media has taken the blame for the actions of children since the day violent media existed. Violent cartoons, movies and video games have often been offered as scapegoats in the news, the reason why a parent’s little angel set another kid on fire. But it looks like this story isn’t going to be future ammo for PAMV and their ilk, as it is looking as if the mother lied about how the fire started. Some had already called into question the mother’s story and the details surrounding the entire affair and I have a feeling investigators were too. This would explain why they charged the shit out of the two youngsters and the prosecution was moving forward. I think they were calling their mother’s bluff. If they were, it worked. Tanesha Beard interrupted her sons’ juvenile court hearing on Friday and admitted that she was the one who had set the fire, not her boys. She was led out of the*courtroom*by police and*was arrested on Monday. She is currently in jail on suspicion of arson and first-degree assault. Her relatives are confirming the boys had nothing to do with setting the fire and had lied to help their mother. They say that Beard started the fire to hurt her boyfriend, and then blamed her children thinking they would escape serious punishment because of their age.
This article is from The Dreamin' Demon, the Internet's self-appointed buzzkill.

More...

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 27th, 2012, 02:17 PM

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said Beard bought several gallons of gasoline before the fire and admitted to starting the fire at juvenile court proceedings on Friday.

Kleine said Beard was arrested while she was visiting her children at the Douglas County Youth Center on Monday night.
[...]

In addition to the arson and assault charges, prosecutors said Beard also faces four counts of child abuse.

http://www.ketv.com/r/30772180/detail.html

Surveillance cameras showed Tanesha Beard, 30, buying two one-gallon gas containers at a gas station a half-hour before the fire that severely burned and critically injured Jermaine Westbrook, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said.
[...]

Kleine said charges will be dropped against the children. However, they and two other children will remain under the supervision of state Health and Human Services officials.
[...]

Kleine said authorities plan to interview the children again.

“There was always that question in the back of our minds, ‘Were these 10- and 12-year-olds really capable of something like this?,’” Kleine said. “It now appears they were told to confess.”

http://www.omaha.com/article/2012032...7/703279935/-1

**AngelFire** · March 27th, 2012, 07:38 PM

omg this horrid bitch allowed her kids to take the fall?

**cubby** · March 27th, 2012, 08:29 PM

can we say premeditation?

**nurseronda** · March 27th, 2012, 10:23 PM

Sounds more like Mom was watching the Burning Bed.

**Silvahalo** · March 27th, 2012, 11:07 PM

fb: Tanesha Jermaine Beard Westbrook

“There was always that question in the back of our minds, ‘Were these 10- and 12-year-olds really capable of something like this?,’” Kleine said. “It now appears they were told to confess.”

oh, there is neglect in this case.
A mother capable of doing this shit and having her kids confess to take the blame is a neglectful in protecting her kids, neglectful for not being a real mom, and a pos, low-life for taking this way to hurt her ex.
Even IF he needs to be gone, out of the house, doing as she did just showed her kids this is how you deal with problems.
fuck her. I hope the judge throws a burning book at her at court and then some.

**Ninja0980** · March 27th, 2012, 11:43 PM

The only thing that shows there's a soul in that body of hers was her confessioning to the crime when she realized her kids weren't going to get the slap on the wrist she thought they were.
That should get a few months knocked off the long prison sentence this bitch hopefully gets. To set someone on fire is bad enough...to set your kids up to take the blame...unforgivable.

**nurseronda** · March 27th, 2012, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by Silvahalo

fb: Tanesha Jermaine Beard Westbrook

oh, there is neglect in this case.
A mother capable of doing this shit and having her kids confess to take the blame is a neglectful in protecting her kids, neglectful for not being a real mom, and a pos, low-life for taking this way to hurt her ex.
Even IF he needs to be gone, out of the house, doing as she did just showed her kids this is how you deal with problems.
fuck her. I hope the judge throws a burning book at her at court and then some.

I didn't read the whole postings...sorry.

**Silvahalo** · March 28th, 2012, 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by nurseronda

I didn't read the whole postings...sorry.

Oh, sweets, it's OK....I almost didn't notice the update myself.

so good to see you here. :)

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 28th, 2012, 02:09 PM

Years of domestic abuse drove an Omaha woman to set her boyfriend on fire while her four children were in the house, friends of the women say.
[...]

Friends and family of the couple outlined a violent three-year relationship.

Danny Robinson, who described himself as the couple's friend, said Beard had long been physically abused by Westbrook. The night before the blaze she was "terrified," he said.

"I think she wasn't in the right frame of mind that night because of the trauma she suffered."

Prosecutors said surveillance cameras captured Beard purchasing two 1-gallon gas containers at a gas station a half-hour before the 4:30 a.m. fire at the home she shared with Westbrook at 13519 Atwood Ave.
[...]

Robinson said he thinks Beard's two oldest children confessed to starting the fire because "they saw how much their mom had suffered."
[...]

Westbrook suffered burns to his face, chest and arms and likely will be hospitalized for three months, his sister Julrene Abercrombie said in a phone interview from her home in Chicago.

"It's going to be a really long, long road for him," she said.

Abercrombie said Beard often was jealous and suspicious of Westbrook, accusing him of showing romantic interest in other women.

Westrook often was pleasant and nice, said Robinson, who called Westbrook as a friend.

"He was a nice guy on one side, but he could be so cruel to (Beard)," Robinson said. "It was bizarre."

Robinson said he once had to intervene when he witnessed Westbrook assaulting Beard in a car in front of a liquor store.

Beard's friend Shamika Brown described getting phone calls from a frightened Beard in the middle of the night.

"I would see the bruises on her face," Brown said of Beard.

One of Beard's family members said he saw Westbrook hit Beard with her own shoe on a public corner.

Westbrook does not have any violent criminal charges on his record. Robinson said Westbrook threatened to kill Beard if she went to police.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120328/NEWS97/703289845

**Silvahalo** · March 28th, 2012, 03:04 PM

Not surprised that she was in an abusive relationship. I can appreciate her being terrified, desperate, but wow, she didn't think this one through.

I don't mean to sound flippant; but for crying out loud, I wonder if this woman even bothered to try other options before taking on this fiery notion of ridding her abusive, dickweed bf? I mean she might have burned the whole damn building down along with her kids. Now she has charges against, her, will serve time, her kids displaced and a bf that is still alive, albeit in bad shape, and is probably really fucking ticked off.

**Ninja0980** · March 28th, 2012, 03:56 PM

Abusive relationship or not,she still tried to set her kids up to take the blame for her. I have a hard time getting by that.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 29th, 2012, 08:02 AM

Beard's family and friends say she was acting out of self-defense. "She said that she was just afraid of this guy, she was terrified and didn't know what to do," said Danny Robinson, a family friend.

Beard and Westbrook had been together for the past three years, but her family says it was tumultuous. "She was a very abused woman by Jermaine, there'd been many nights she'd come to my house, three or four o clock in the morning, being beaten," said Robinson. "One situation, where he had beaten her with a chair, taken all the phones in the house, so [the children] couldn't call the police, and then telling the children if they called the police he would kill them and their mom, and then made the kids clean the blood up, I know this happened."

Robinson also said the two children who initially took the blame for the fire, took the fall on their own. "They shared with me the fact this guy has beaten their mom in front of them, and I think what they did, they saw how much their mom had suffered, they didn't want her to go through the trials and tribulations, of what she did, as far as if she did set the fire, they said it themselves they set it, she didn't coerce them to say that."

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/144634045.html

Some friend. Helps the beat up woman but never calls the cops even if she won't do it herself. Just sits back and lets it happen for "many nights".

**Dakota Valkyrie** · April 20th, 2012, 08:38 PM

Tanesha Beard also faces felony child abuse charges because, prosecutors say, she intentionally let her children take the fall for her crime.

Pictures of the bedroom where Jermaine Westbrook nearly lost his life were taken just a few days after he was set on fire while he slept.

The burn marks on the carpet show where the gasoline was poured then lit.

Tanesha beard faces arson and assault charges as a result. She also faces four felony counts of child abuse.

Her attorney Beau Finley tried unsuccessfully to get the child abuse charges dismissed.

Beau Finley says, "There is a presumption that the state is drawing that there is a mental health issue based on the conduct of Tanesha in this case and I think that is a whole lot of conjecture."

Finley argued before Judge John Huber that what beard is alleged to have done; set the fire and let her 10 and 12 year old children take the fall, was reprehensible but did not constitute felony child abuse.

Judge Huber would have none of it, he asked Finley, "You don't dispute the children were arrested, taken into custody and removed from the family? He then added, "I don't need at expert, I can use my own brain." and bound beard over on all six counts against her.
[...]

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/H...148333035.html

In court on Friday, fire investigators said Westbrook was in fair condition at a Lincoln-area hospital after he suffered burns over most of his body.

The day of the fire, Westbrook and Beard were at a family bar until about 2 a.m., said Battalion Capt. John McCormick, who heads up Omaha's fire investigation bureau.

Westbrook, speaking to investigators from his hospital bed, recounted that the two had a good evening.

After the bar closed, McCormick testified, the two went out for breakfast, then to the home they shared at 13519 Atwood Ave.

While Westbrook slept, Beard was captured on surveillance video at 4:15 a.m. purchasing a gas can and one gallon of gas from a nearby gas station.

Back at the house, Beard's four children, ages 12, 10, 9 and 6, sat in a car as the fire was set, McCormick said. One of Beard's daughters later told investigators that her mother told the children she set the fire when she joined them in the car, McCormick said.

Westbrook told investigators he was awoken by smoke about 4:30 a.m.

The kids likely heard Westbrook screaming for help from the second floor bathroom window, McCormick said.

In the hours after the fire, Beard's two oldest children confessed to the fire and were arrested. A few days later, the children were released to family members and Beard was jailed in connection with the fire.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120420/NEWS97/704209871