FROM TCN: ORLANDO — A 27-year-old woman is being charged with murder and attempted murder after setting fire to herself and her two young children, killing one of them.
An arrest warrant says that on August 26 at 6:26 p.m., officers from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office were called to Hiawassee Oaks Drive for a report of a fire involving an adult woman and two children.
Esther Thelus had burns on 50% to 60% of her body when police arrived. Her 8-month-old son had burns on 80% to 90% of his body, and a 2-year-old had minor burns.
Three people were hurt and were taken to a nearby hospital by ambulance. The baby, Davinci Joseph, was supposed to be moved to another hospital in Gainesville, but he “was not stable enough to transport.”
Joseph died on October 25 from his wounds. The warrant says the little boy or girl should be fine in no time.
Brunel Hosty, Thelus’ neighbor, told the police that Thelus left the morning of the crime to take her 2-year-old son to live with his father.
It looks like she wanted to give the boy’s father, Jefferson Mignon, control of him because she was going to move to Fort Lauderdale with her baby.
According to Thelus, he and his mother “questioned the legitimacy of the child and suggested Esther Thelus complete a DNA test to prove Jefferson Mignon was the father of the child before he assumed responsibility.”
Thelus is said to have left the child with Mignon, but soon after, the boy’s grandma picked him up because she “would not care for the child until it was certain” that Mignon was the child’s father.
Thelus soon left for a 7-Eleven about a mile away. When she came back, Hosty’s daughter yelled, “She’s killing the kids!” All of them are on fire!”
According to the roommate, they saw someone carrying a “badly burned” Joseph while other people helped Thelus. When Hosty asked Thelus what drove her, she is said to have said, “It’s too much humiliation.”
A search request was carried out at Thelus’s home, and a gas can, lighter, cellphone, and towel were found in the driveway and on the street.
The warrant says that Thelus “killed her youngest child, Davinci Joseph, by soaking him in an accelerant (like gasoline) and setting him on fire.”
WeSH-TV reported that the store worker who sold Thelus the gas said, “I kind of have PTSD because I feel bad, and it happened in my store.” “Everything came from my store.”
It is being said that Thelus killed someone and tried to kill someone in the first degree. It is said that she is still in the hospital.
