The mother of two children who were killed in an Indiana apartment complex fire over the weekend was charged Tuesday, authorities said. A third child jumped from a window and was rescued by neighbors below.
Kristen Alyse Gober, 33, of Gary, was charged with neglect of a dependent causing death, neglect of a dependent and possession of marijuana. She was in police custody Tuesday afternoon.
Thick smoke swallowed up the third and fourth floors of the building in the 5800 block of Forest Court on Sunday. Hundreds of residents were displaced due to the fire.
"It was discovered that Kristen Gober left her three small children unattended in their apartment for an extended period of time," police said in a statement. "During the time the children were unattended a fire started in the kitchen area of the apartment."
Gober was originally taken into custody due to outstanding warrants, police said.
Cell phone footage from Indiana rescuers showed the inside of the Lakeshore dunes apartment building where the fire broke out.
Authorities said a 2-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy died on the fourth floor. The video captured shows their older brother merely wearing pajama pants, trying to go up the stairs to save them, but ultimately failed.
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The 8-year-old boy is seen in the video yelling “my brother and sister are up there."
"They were telling him to jump and he had tears in his eyes," resident rescuer David Stone said.
Richard Johnson was also one of the rescuers at the scene.
"We all held the sheet and he jumped down," Johnson explained.
According to another rescuer, the older sibling mentioned that his mother hadn't been home since the night before.
Residents said it will be difficult for them to return to work and school. They also said they'd like to see management do more. NBC 5 reached out to the management office Monday and the office responded with "no comment."
In the meantime, residents are being moved to a shelter in Hobart Tuesday.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
