Lang
8/15/25
A deferred judgment has been handed down to a North Liberty woman who police say left her children home alone, leading to a fire.
30-year-old Brittany Airhart entered a guilty plea to a pair of Child Endangerment charges in June. On Thursday, Judge Brandon Schrock gave her a pair of deferred judgments and two years of probation.
Airhart was accused of leaving her children alone at her Rachel Street apartment last November, claiming she thought a babysitter had picked the children up after she left. At about 4:30 on the morning of November 11th, one of the children started the fireplace, igniting some nearby clothing. The blaze was extinguished by fire suppression systems.
Firefighters searched the smoke-filled apartment and found a three-year-old and a five-year-old hiding in their bedrooms. They were taken to University of Iowa Health Care once paramedics had cleared them of injuries.
Airhart was initially charged with Neglect or Abandonment of a Dependent Person, which carries a maximum ten-year sentence upon conviction.