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Jessica Tata, a woman wanted after a day care center fire killed four small children, has surrendered.
It’s a day many of the victims’ families had hoped for — a chance to get justice. We first told you about the major development in the case here on abc13.com.
Tata’s brother told Eyewitness News she turned herself in at a consulate in Nigeria. Investigators believed she fled to that country shortly after the fire last month.
Tata is accused of leaving those kids home alone when that fire broke out. While details of her surrender are being kept under wraps, we know that her family may have convinced her to come out of hiding and turn herself in.
After more than 20 days on the run, Tata, one of the U.S. Marshal’s 15 most wanted fugitives, is said to be traveling with Nigerian officials to the capital of Portharcourt, where U.S. authorities will meet her.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has been following the search for her and says Tata’s surrender was voluntary.
“The U.S. embassy in Nigeria is well informed, is in control and in cooperation with the Nigerian government and in cooperation with law enforcement authorities here in the United States,” she said.
