No jail time for mother who left 2-year-old girl home alone in fatal Bedford-Stuyvesant fire

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, Brooklyn (WABC) -- The mother of a 2-year-old girl who was found dead after a fire ripped through an apartment in Brooklyn will not face any jail time.

Police say 21-year-old Leila Aquino left her 2-year-old daughter Kalenah Muldrow home alone while she went to work at a strip club. She returned home to find her house had gone up in flames back on February 23rd.

Aquino pleaded guilty to charges of reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

Aquino is required to complete a program with the Women's Prison Association until July 2017. The association offers an alternative to incarceration program for defendants that face a minimum of six months of incarceration as a result of felony charges.

Once she completes the program, the judge will sentence her to three years probation.

The child is believed to have hid under the bed in a panic when the fire started and became trapped.

The blaze started on the top floor of the home at 755 Monroe St.

Sources tell Eyewitness News Aquino, who at first said she had a babysitter, had actually gone out to work as a stripper overnight, then returned to the fire scene hours after the blaze was extinguished to say her daughter was missing.

According to the NYPD, detectives said they believe Aquino had been working at a strip club from Monday night until Tuesday morning.

Originally she denied that, they said, claiming she was out with a friend having drinks. Detectives said she told them she left the girl with a sitter.

However, Kalenah had no sitter since February 2nd, after the babysitter said she was owed money.

The Brooklyn DA released a statement saying: "This case is a tragic example of how dangerous it is to leave a child home alone. The defendant, who will never get her daughter back, has now taken responsibility for her criminal actions."