Mom of twin toddler boys killed in house fire pleads guilty

BATAVIA, N.Y. – The mother of twin toddler boys who died in a western New York house fire while she left them alone to buy marijuana has pleaded guilty in connection to their deaths.

Twenty-five-year-old Heather Ace pleaded guilty Monday in Batavia Town Court to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors say the potential punishment — a fine and up to a year in jail — is the same whether she’d pleaded guilty to one or two counts.

Two-year-olds Michael and Micah Gard were killed when their mother’s Batavia home caught fire last May. Authorities say Ace had left the boys alone for about 90 minutes while she went out to buy pot and an alcoholic drink.

The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.

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