'I never meant for this to happen,' says mother of 2 children left alone who died in fire
An Akron mother locked her two young, developmentally disabled children in their home and left them there for 9½ hours.
When a fire started in the house, the children — who didn’t know how to open a door — weren’t able to escape.
Masiame Donzo, their mother, only returned home when the fire department called to tell her that her house was on fire and her children were trapped inside.
Those were details a Summit County prosecutor shared Thursday during Donzo’s sentencing for charges related to the deaths of her children in the May 2022 fire.
“This was easily preventable,” Assistant Prosecutor Jennie Shuki said during the sentencing in Summit County Common Pleas Court. “She knew they shouldn’t be left alone. She knew they couldn’t get out of the house.”
Donzo, 35, pleaded guilty in June to two counts each of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, and endangering children, a third-degree felony.
Prosecutors agreed to dismiss two counts of reckless homicide, which are third-degree felonies.
Judge Tammy O’Brien sentenced Donzo Thursday to six to nine years in prison.
Children who died in fire were 8 and 10
Akron firefighters were called at 6:54 p.m. May 23, 2022, to a fire in a two-story home on 7th Avenue in East Akron. Firefighters observed smoke showing from second-floor windows.
They found Abou Jabateh, 10, and Fatumata Jabateh, 8, who both had multiple developmental disabilities, inside the house and unresponsive. They were transported to Akron Children's Hospital and were pronounced dead in the emergency room.
Donzo arrived at the home shortly after firefighters responded, firefighters said.
Fatumata was a pupil at Seiberling Community Learning Center and Abou was a pupil at Barber CLC, according to Akron Public Schools.
Donzo was charged in her children’s deaths in June 2022. She was scheduled to go on trial in mid-August, but instead accepted a plea deal.
Prosecutor urges ‘significant’ prison time for Donzo
On the day of the fire, Shuki said, Donzo decided to call her children off school because she wasn’t feeling well. She said Donzo left the children at their home that morning, locked the doors and went to the business where she worked. She took cold medicine there and then fell asleep.
Shuki said the children were non-verbal, lacked gross motor skills and functioned at around a 2-to-3-year-old range. She said they needed constant supervision.
Shuki said Donzo’s remorse and grief are genuine, and she accepted responsibility for her actions. She said, though, that she thinks Donzo deserves ‘significant’ prison time.
Shuki said the fire started in the living room of the home, originating with a power strip that had multiple devices plugged into it.
Shuki said no family members were in court to speak.
Attorney asks judge to consider probation for grieving mother
Olivia Myers, Donzo’s attorney, shared details of Donzo’s difficult life.
Myers said Donzo grew up in Liberia, where she was sexually abused and mutilated as a child. She said her parents died in a civil war.
At age 16, Donzo moved to New York, where she met her common-law husband and they had two children. The two of them struggled because of the care needed for the children, Myers said.
Donzo left her husband and lived in a shelter in New York. In 2018, she moved to Ohio, where she had family. She sent her children back to Africa while she got a certification to drive a forklift and then got a house. She brought her children back to Akron and enrolled them in school, Myers said.
Donzo struggled during the pandemic to find a daycare that would take care of her children because of their several disabilities so that she could work to provide for them, Myers said.
“This is not a mother that neglected her children,” Myers said. “She has constantly fought to provide for her children.”
Myers said Donzo showed a “lapse of judgment” in leaving her children alone, resulting in this “horrible, tragic accident.” She pointed to her client’s lack of a prior criminal record and urged O’Brien to consider putting Donzo on probation or to impose a sentence on the lower end of three to four and a half years in prison.
“There is no greater punishment than being responsible for your own children’s deaths,” Myers said.
Donzo is tearful and apologetic
Donzo, who cried throughout the hearing, apologized to the court.
“I am sorry for everything I have caused … My children,” she said. “I never meant for this to happen. I take full responsibility for my actions. I am remorseful.”
Donzo wiped away tears with a tissue.
“Sorry,” she said again.
O’Brien said she believes Donzo’s remorse is “genuine and complete.” She said Donzo has had a challenging life and was under an enormous amount of stress as a single mother trying to care for two disabled children who needed constant care.
O’Brien, though, agreed with Shuki that this was a preventable situation. She said Donzo could have sent her children to school.
“They did not need to be left alone,” O’Brien said. “While I believe this was a lapse in judgment, it was criminal in nature and resulted in two deaths.”
Myers hugged Donzo before deputies put handcuffs on her wrists and led her from the courtroom.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 an on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Masiame Donzo sentenced to prison for 2 children's deaths in fire
