Mom Arrested After Performing Voodoo Fire On Daughter

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NEW YORK (WPIX) - A Queen's mom is accused of setting her six-year-old daughter on fire in a bizarre voodoo ritual that left the girl severely burned, authorities said.

Marie Lauradin, 29, a Haitian immigrant, apparently ignored little Frantzcia Saintil's screams as flames engulfed her body during the Feb 4. ritual, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. Frantizcia's grandmother, 70-year-old Sylvenie Thessier, reportedly came to her aide and extinguished the flames.

Instead of taking Frantzcia to the hospital, prosecutors say the pair, instead, sent the girl to bed, where she remained for a day before relatives begged them to take the girl to the hospital.

According to court papers, when Lauradin finally sought medical assistance for her daughter, doctors determined Frantzcia had suffered second and third-degree burns covering 25% of her body, including her face torso and legs.

Lauradin, who has been in the U.S for less than a year, was charged in Queens Criminal Court with assault and endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, she faces up to 25 years behind bars.

According to police, Lauradin sprayed a circle of rum on the floor around her daughter and lit it on fire. She then poured some alcohol on the girl's head and pushed her into the ring of flames.

Initially, Lauradin reportedly told police she was boiling rice in a pot and accidentally spilled it on her daughter.

Her attorney Jeff Cohen said she is completely innocent of the allegations.

"This is my client's only child," Cohen told the New York Daily News. "My client would not hurt her."

Thessier is facing charges of reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. She faces up to seven years in jail.

Police Say Woman Set Herself On Fire

BURTCHVILLE, Mich. -- The St. Clair County Sheriff said a woman who was set on fire has no one to blame but herself.

Authorities have charged Shannon Lee Rhodes with filing a false police report after she claimed an unknown man set her on fire.

But the prosecution said Rhodes injured herself.

"Our office filed charges today (Wednesday) against Shannon Lee Rhodes for the felony offense of false report of a felony," said St. Clair County Prosecutor Michael Wendling. "We believe the injuries were self-inflicted."

Rhodes, of Burtchville Township, was arrested Tuesday and arraigned Wednesday afternoon.

Rhodes, 39, is going through a divorce and investigators believe martial problems are behind the incident. Her husband is on a tether and out on bond while facing charges in a domestic situation involving the couple.

"We believe there are some domestic issues going on between her and her husband," Wendling said. "We also felt there were some other issues that may have caused her to believe she would not be burned so badly and this was an incident that got out of hand."

The incident happened three months ago. Rhodes' 12-year-old son was home at the time and called 9-1-1.

"My mom just caught on fire!," the boy can be heard saying during the emergency call.

When the 911 operator asked "What's on fire?", the boy replied, "My mom."

After catching fire, Rhodes ran to the shower to put out flames on her chest, police said.

Rhodes later told police the incident happened when an unknown man knocked on her front door, doused her in a flammable liquid and lit her on fire.

Sheriff Tim Donnellon said the charges against Rhodes should put any community fears to rest.

"There isn't some mad man running around out there setting civilians on fire," Donnellon said. "At the conclusion of the interview with Rhodes (Tuesday), she was placed into custody."