TX Woman Left Kids to Die in House Fire

Nov. 16 -- A Waco woman left two of her grandchildren to die in a house fire earlier this month, authorities said Thursday.

Andrea Aleman, 44, was arrested Thursday on two counts of reckless endangerment of a child after what police called an "extremely difficult" investigation.

Police said they believe she contributed to the deaths of her grandchildren Anthony Cole Puente, 4, and his sister Rachel Rose Aleman, 2.

Authorities were called to the blaze in the 1200 block of Webster Avenue around 1:30 a.m. Nov. 2 and discovered that there were still children inside the home.

By the time firefighters pulled Anthony and Rachel from the house, they were unresponsive.

The children were pronounced dead a short time later at a hospital.

Police said Thursday that Aleman "abandoned her grandchildren in a burning house and took no action to get them help."

According to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by the Waco Tribune-Herald, Aleman did not immediately investigate when the children alerted her to the fire, then left the home without them.

"Instead, the defendant merely briefly called out from the next room then left herself without ensuring that all the children had fled," the affidavit says. She also did not return to the home when she realized the children were still inside, it says.

An 11-year-old child who survived the fire told authorities Aleman was the first person out of the house, according to the affidavit.

Aleman remained in the McLennan County jail Thursday evening. Her bail had not been set.

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