‘They are all on fire!’: Mother who felt ‘too much humiliation’ doused her 2-year-old and 8-month-old sons in gasoline and set them ablaze, cops say

A Florida mother is facing murder and attempted murder charges after she allegedly set herself and her 2-year-old and 8-month-old children on fire. While the 2-year-old survived, the youngest child died some two months after the incident, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to a fire involving 26-year-old Esther Thelus, 8-month-old Davinci Joseph and a 2-year-old boy at a home around 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 in the 7000 block of Hiawassee Oaks Drive in Orlando. Thelus had burns to over half her body while burns covered 80 to 90% of Davinci’s body, a probable cause arrest affidavit. The 2-year-old suffered minor burns. Paramedics rushed all three to a hospital. While en route, first responders had to resuscitate the baby. Doctors advised they did not expect the child to survive but he fought for two months until he died on Oct. 25, police say.

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Doctors intubated Thelus and she remains at the hospital, cops say. The 2-year-old is expected to make a full recovery.

Detectives discovered Thelus bought a lighter, gas can and gasoline at a nearby 7-Eleven gas station just moments before she set them all ablaze. Earlier in the day, Thelus had dropped off the 2-year-old with the man she said was the father. She told him she and Davinci were moving to Ft. Lauderdale and she no longer wanted to care for the older child because she felt “humiliation.” However, the alleged father refused to care for the child until a DNA test proved the boy belonged to him.