Mother of infant who died in Shawnee house fire charged with intimidating witness
The Johnson County woman charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of her infant son in a Shawnee house fire last month was arrested again Thursday on accusations she attempted to intimidate a witness in one of her ongoing criminal cases.
Karlie Mae Phelps, 28, was taken into custody on a warrant and charged with violation of a protective order and intimidation of a witness, both misdemeanors, court records show.
She remained jailed Friday and her defense attorney, Scott Toth, entered a not guilty plea on her behalf during a brief virtual appearance in Johnson County District Court.
The case is the third set of charges against Phelps over the past two weeks after her young son, born in 2020, was killed in a fire inside her home on Feb. 13.
Nicholas Adam Ecker, the father of the child and Phelps’ ex-boyfriend, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated arson immediately after the fire. He also faces a series of charges associated with allegations of domestic violence against Phelps this year.
Phelps was arrested two weeks later, on Feb. 25, and charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering a child in connection with the blaze.
Court records released this week revealed that Ecker, who was barred from contacting Phelps by a court order following his earlier domestic violence charges, was inside Phelps’ home looking for her and their son just minutes before firefighters were dispatched to the blaze.
Cellphone records showed he and Phelps were messaging one another just before and in the immediate aftermath of the fire, according to the affidavits released this week.
“Go get junior NOW,” Phelps messaged Ecker back minutes after the fire. “HES INSIDE YOU DIMB (sic) ASS I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU STARTED THAT FIRE. YOU KILLED OUR BABY!!! And you could’ve killed me!!!”
Phelps later admitted to investigators she had left the child alone in a downstairs bedroom to visit a different location to buy prescription pain medication and was not home at the time of the fire, records show.
In addition to the involuntary manslaughter and endangerment charges, Phelps separately was charged with felony possession of oxycodone upon her arrest, court records show. A judge entered a protective order barring her from contacting any witnesses in connection with that case.
Phelps was under house arrest after posting a $250,000 bond on March 1 and is accused of violating that protective order the next day, court records show.
Toth declined to discuss any of Phelps’ cases at length Friday. Earlier in the week, Toth said she is still grieving the loss of her child and has been “very cooperative with the authorities” regarding the deadly fire.
Neither Ecker nor Phelps have entered pleas in their other cases so far and both are scheduled to return to court March 31.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 12:49 PM.
