Mother of 3 Fire Victims Is Arrested

The 39-year-old mother of three young children who died last month in a fire at a suspected drug lab has been arrested for an alleged drug violation and may face second-degree murder charges, authorities said Tuesday.

Kathy James, who was recovering from burns on her arms and legs, was checking herself out of San Bernardino County Medical Center on Monday afternoon against doctors’ advice and medical personnel notified detectives, said Mark Lohman, spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

She was arrested in the hospital lobby on suspicion of conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine and was booked on $250,000 bail, Lohman said.

The Riverside County district attorney’s office said the woman was not expected to be released from the hospital until Friday, at which time she was to be arrested on several possible charges.

By Friday, prosecutor John Davis said, his office will decide whether to charge James with second-degree murder on the theory that the children--Dion, 3, Jackson, 2, and Megan, 1--died because their mother was involved in an inherently dangerous activity, the manufacturing of the powerful stimulant methamphetamine by combining and cooking various toxic and flammable chemicals.

An older child of James escaped the fire with her and several other adults and has since cooperated with investigators, Lohman said.

The Dec. 26 blaze destroyed the woman’s mobile home in the rural community of Aguanga in southern Riverside County. Investigators believe that the fire was either directly sparked by the cooking operations or that the drug lab fueled a fire that started some other way.

Davis said prosecutors will decide Friday whether to charge other suspects, including two men who were also burned in the fire.