South LA mom arrested after allegedly leaving 4 kids alone before fire

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Nearly three months after a horrific fire that almost claimed the lives of her four young children, a mother is now in custody facing child endangerment charges.

Police say 27-year-old Chiquita Jordan left her kids, ages two through eight, alone in their South Los Angeles home on January 16.

The small house didn't have electricity, and detectives believe a lit candle set off a raging fire.

All four kids were found together in one room badly burned.

The children were rushed to area hospitals in critical condition. At the time, police didn't think they would make it.

"We initially thought the case involved arson, and that the children weren't going to survive, so we treated it as a homicide," said Moses Castillo, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Because of that, the LAPD's robbery homicide division took the case. They handed the investigation over to the LAPD's abused child section on March 27th.

Detectives arrested Jordan on Monday. She is now being held on $100,000 bail.

Two of the children are still being treated at Los Angeles County USC medical center. The other two have since been released.

Now, detectives are asking for the public's help. They believe Jordan and the kids took trips to Las Vegas before the fire, and want anyone with more information to come forward.

"We want to be able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together as far as what took place during that timeline," said Castillo.