PITTSBURGH — A North Versailles mother pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter charges after her two young sons died when a fire erupted at an apartment where they had been left by themselves.
Kiaira Pollard, 28, agreed to a plea deal before Allegheny County Common Pleas President Judge Donna Jo McDaniel that will send her to state prison for two to four years. She pleaded guilty to seven charges, including involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children.
On June 30, a faulty air conditioner in the master bedroom sparked a fire around 2:30 a.m. while Kidonn Pollard-Ford, 7, and Krisdon Williams-Pollard, 4, were alone in the apartment, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer DiGiovanni said at the hearing.
Pollard spoke to Channel 11's Alan Jennings after the hearing.
"I can hear them telling me, 'Mommy, it's going to be OK,'" Pollard said. "I just know my boys are with me every day. They do little things to make me smile, like pictures fall off the wall and change comes flying across the room."
Krisdon's father, Chris Williams, 34, of Penn Hills, also attended the hearing.
"She could have asked for help. I took care of those kids," said Williams, who helped raise Kidonn from infancy because he said the boy's father was not around. "When she made phone calls to us that the kids needed something, we made it happen. She could have picked up the phone but she chose not to do that."
Pollard is expected to go to jail on April 25.
Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.