Mother Held After Firefighters Find Her Baby’s Body in Washer

A woman with a history of child abuse was booked Tuesday on suspicion of killing her 3-month-old son shortly after relatives said she called social workers to come pick up the boy.

Authorities responding to a fire at Latunga Nate Starks’ South Los Angeles residence Monday night found her son, Michael Kelvin Thompson, stuffed inside a washing machine at the back of the home. Police allege that Starks, 32, set the fire. The coroner’s office is expected to complete an autopsy today.

In 1994, Starks was convicted on one count of child abuse. According to court records, she used the burning head of a mop to light her 8-month-old daughter’s diaper on fire as well as the pajamas of the girl’s 2-year-old playmate.

Family members described a frantic day that led up to Tuesday’s fire, with the mother agonizing about whether to turn Michael over to a children’s services agency.

Starks fought with Michael’s father earlier in the day before calling social workers from a private nonprofit agency and asking them to pick up her son, relatives said. But an hour later, Starks called back and told the social worker not to come, said La Shanda Criswell-Mitchell, the baby’s aunt, who was at the house at the time.

Criswell-Mitchell said that about 7:45 p.m., she left Starks and the baby with Michael’s grandmother and another relative at the house in the 400 block of West 109th Street.

An hour later, the two family members awoke to the sound of a smoke alarm and fled to the porch, where they found Starks, Criswell-Mitchell said. When firefighters arrived, they asked Starks where the baby was, and she said he was with his father, who lives elsewhere.

“She was just standing out there like nothing happened,” said James Bopete Daniels, 40, the baby’s paternal uncle. Starks “was just smoking her cigarettes and smiling. I asked her why she burned my mama’s house down and she just smiled.”

Only after firefighters combed through the ashes did they find the infant’s body in a washing machine in the rear bedroom he shared with his mother, authorities and relatives said.

Detectives said they were not sure about the cause of Michael’s death. But several relatives said police told them the baby had been severely beaten, and the LAPD’s child abuse unit said Michael had suffered head injuries.

It is unclear how much social workers knew about Starks’ history and what actions they took. Family members said that in recent months they and Starks had been talking to officials at a private nonprofit agency in South Los Angeles that specializes in dealing with people with developmental disabilities. Officials from that organization, which contracts with the state Department of Developmental Services, did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

It was unknown whether Starks had any contact with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

Starks pleaded no contest to child abuse in 1994 and was sentenced to eight years in prison in a case that the judge described as bizarre. Prosecutors alleged that Starks set fire to a mop head and dragged it through her apartment, burning the carpet, curtains and a mattress, according to court records.

At one point, she used the mop to set fire to the diapers of her 8-month-old daughter, Tatiana, and the pajamas of a neighbor boy, Rushon White, 2. Both children suffered serious burns. The boy was hospitalized with burns to his back and shoulders; one of the girl’s legs was burned, records show.

A neighbor saw flames coming from the apartment. She peered in the window and saw Starks cooking chicken in the kitchen, according to court records.

The neighbor told authorities that Starks acted blase about the events happening around her. The woman panicked and told Starks to hand the children through the window, and she eventually did.

In a separate case, Starks was convicted in June 1990 in Ventura County of felony assault with a deadly weapon.

And in December 1999, she was charged with arson of an inhabited structure, according to court records. The case was dismissed after the court held a hearing on her mental state.

A district attorney spokeswoman, Jane Robison, said: “We couldn’t prosecute because she was found to not be competent.” She said Starks was sent to a state mental hospital but no further details were available.

About two years ago, Starks lived in a center called Arms of Grace in L.A. It was while there that she met Michael’s father, 46-year-old Michael Thompson.

After the couple split up, Thompson’s mother, Althea Andrews, decided it was best for Starks and her infant grandson Michael to live with her in the West 109th Street home.

Family members said they were shocked by what Starks is accused of doing.

“I’ve never seen her angry. I’ve never seen her violent,” said LaCrisha Jennings. “She loved the baby. That’s the thing about it.”