Mother Charged After 2024 Fire Left 3 Kids Injured
BY MN CRIME STAFF
The scene of a townhouse fire in Vadnais Heights last November that injured four people. MN CRIME PHOTO
A Vadnais Heights woman is facing felony child endangerment charges after prosecutors say her three young children suffered serious injuries in a fire last fall.
Investigators say the fire was caused by unattended cooking while she was impaired by alcohol and marijuana.
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Kyla Monae Denise Vinson, 28, is charged with three counts of felony child endangerment involving situations likely to cause harm or death. Each count carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.
The charges stem from a fire reported just before 5:45 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2024, at a townhome along County Road D in Vadnais Heights. Multiple callers contacted 911 reporting heavy smoke coming from the residence. When firefighters and sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found thick black smoke throughout the home and an active fire burning on the stove.
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Investigators say Vinson was outside the home screaming that her children were still inside. She told first responders that she had been asleep and was awakened by her eight-year-old daughter, who alerted her to the fire. Vinson said she and the child jumped from a second-story window, leaving two younger children still inside the residence.
The eight-year-old was found nearby covered in soot and visibly distressed. Firefighters entered the townhome and located a nearly four-year-old boy in a hallway, unconscious and covered in smoke and soot while wearing only a diaper. A 14-month-old girl was also found in a bedroom corner with soot on her body and black residue in her nose. She was alert but struggling to breathe. Fire crews suctioned a large amount of soot from her airway before removing her from the home.
All three children and Vinson were transported to the hospital. The two youngest children were intubated and listed in critical condition while the oldest child was placed on oxygen, according to the criminal complaint.
While at the hospital, a deputy overheard Vinson telling family members that she had been preparing grease for cooking and must have laid down or passed out. She said she was later awakened by her daughter screaming about the fire and that smoke had filled the home so heavily she could not see. Vinson also mentioned consuming a canned cocktail.
READ MORE > Vadnais Heights coverage
Family members provided additional statements to investigators raising concerns about Vinson’s condition earlier that day. Vinson’s sister told authorities she dropped off her own child at the townhome around midday. About an hour later, the child called asking to be picked up because he was scared. The sister said she could hear Vinson yelling in the background during the call. When she arrived at the home, she described Vinson as belligerent and appearing intoxicated. The sister also reported that her child told her Vinson smelled of alcohol and was acting strangely.
Another relative who lives nearby told investigators she had previously found one of the younger children wandering outside alone early in the morning during winter wearing only a diaper. She said Vinson told her she had been sleeping during that earlier incident and blamed the oldest child. The relative also reported ongoing concerns about alcohol and drug use and said Vinson had restricted the children’s father from seeing them.
A search warrant executed at the townhome turned up a small bottle of tequila and a can of vodka in Vinson’s bedroom. Investigators also recovered an unsecured firearm from a nightstand drawer along with two loaded magazines.
A blood sample taken from Vinson roughly four hours after the fire showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.106 and the presence of THC, according to results from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
A State Fire Marshal investigation concluded the fire originated on the stovetop after cooking oil ignited in a pan containing food.
In a recorded interview, Vinson told investigators she had been struggling financially. She said she started heating oil to fry chicken shortly before the fire, put the youngest child down and went to her bedroom where she fell asleep. She admitted to drinking earlier in the day and finishing or nearly finishing a canned cocktail while cooking. She acknowledged marijuana use generally but denied using it that day.
The complaint also outlined multiple prior alcohol-related incidents involving Vinson. About two years before the fire, she was convicted of gross misdemeanor DWI after crashing into a ditch with her two-year-old child in the vehicle without a car seat and a reported blood alcohol concentration of 0.17. She was also convicted in separate cases after being found intoxicated in a vehicle in Maplewood and after a traffic stop in Vadnais Heights eight months before the fire where her blood alcohol concentration was reported at 0.10.
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