Mistrial declared for mom charged in son’s death by fire

Published 12:27 pm Friday, February 26, 2016

OLYMPIA — A Thurston County judge has declared a mistrial in the case of a woman accused of leaving her 18-month-old son alone in a house where he died in a fire.

The Olympian reported that Ashley Conroy, 23, was granted a mistrial Thursday, four days into her manslaughter trial, after the judge determined she may have given a statement to authorities without having been read her Miranda rights.

Conroy was arrested in 2013 after her son died in a house fire near Olympia.

He had been left in a room where an electric grill was being used for heat. His body was found with a leg tangled in the cord as if he had crawled into it, starting the fire.

The Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office can decide to refile charges.