Mom listens to baby scream in burning RV until he falls silent, Arkansas cops say

A mother was arrested following an RV fire that caused her baby’s death, Arkansas cops say.

The Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office announced charges Wednesday, Dec. 20, against 34-year-old Diana Welch following the Nov. 20 incident in Tumbling Shoals, about 70 miles northeast of Little Rock.

Welch told authorities she was sleeping in the RV and woke to the screams of one of her infant twins, Allen Davis Jr., according to an affidavit. She then saw the living quarters of the RV on fire.

She said she heard her child screaming, but she “did not search for him due to not having her glasses on,” a detective said in his report.

Welch grabbed Allen’s twin, who was on the bed where she had been sleeping, authorities said. She crawled out of the RV through its back hatch and sat the child down outside.

The sheriff’s office said Welch tried to open the driver’s side door of the RV, but it was locked.

“Welch stated she then crawled back through the window and went to the area of the fire again and listened to Davis Jr. scream while watching the fire until she could no longer hear him scream,” a detective said.

First responders found the RV “engulfed in flames,” and the “burned remains” of the baby were ultimately discovered beside the front passenger tire, authorities said in the affidavit.

Despite Welch saying she was unable to search for the baby because she was not wearing her glasses, a detective noted she was “texting on her phone and signed her name without hesitation although she had no glasses on.”

Welch was charged with first-degree child endangerment.