Cartoon may have inspired kids to set fire


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The children who set fire to the floor around the bed of their mother and her boyfriend early Friday may have been inspired by a children's cartoon they had been watching.

The 12-year-old boy and his 10-year-old sister who admitted setting the fire at their southwest Omaha home mentioned ?Tom and Jerry? or some other cartoon in which a fire takes place, prosecutors say.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said authorities, including counselors and therapists, will be looking into whether there were deeper motives.

What's clear, Kleine said, is that the children used some sort of accelerant to encircle the bed, then started the fire. It left their mother's boyfriend, Jermaine Westbrook, in critical condition with severe burns.

The children were arrested on suspicion of first-degree arson and two counts each of first-degree assault.

According to authorities:

The couple had been partying and had left four children in the care of an uncle. They returned home shortly before the fire and went to bed.

Two of the children were watching cartoons on television about 4:30 a.m. on Friday.

They then poured an accelerant, possibly gasoline, on the carpet in a ring around the bed and set it on fire.

That touched off a mad scramble. The mother, Tanesha Beard, awoke immediately but could not rouse Westbrook.

She and all the children escaped unharmed.

Omaha firefighters rescued Westbrook, but not before he had suffered third-degree burns and smoke inhalation, said the family's landlord, Donald Sloter.

Westbrook was taken in critical condition to Creighton University Medical Center, then flown to St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln.

At a Friday juvenile court hearing, Judge Christopher Kelly placed the children with Youth Links, a program for at-risk youths that provides an out-of-home setting with a lower security level than the Douglas County Youth Center.

Beard, who was present, interrupted the hearing, claiming that she had set the fire. Douglas County sheriff's deputies escorted her out of the courtroom.

Sloter calculated that the home at 13519 Atwood Ave. will require about $30,000 in repairs from fire, smoke and water damage. ?I have insurance, but it's devastating for Tanesha,? he said.

The Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross assisted the family, a spokeswoman said.

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The children who set fire to the floor around the bed of their mother and her boyfriend early Friday may have been inspired by a children's cartoon they had been watching.

... but they also may not have been.

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I grew up watching Looney Tunes, Ren and Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life etc. We laughed at it then went on to play with Lego's, skating downhill, conquering trees etc. What is wrong with kids these days, are they that suggestible? Something else is up with this.

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