Two mothers pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter yesterday in the deaths of five children left unattended at a Larimer home when it accidentally caught fire in June.

The women had gone to have a beer at a nearby tavern, leaving their five younger children in the care of their 8-year-old sons, who survived the blaze unharmed. Police said the 8-year-olds may have been playing with matches.

It was partly out of concern for the two boys -- Huedon Chambliss and Jevon Irwin, now 9 -- that the pleas were accepted and additional multiple charges of child endangerment and reckless endangerment against the mothers, Shakita M. Mangham and Furaha T. Love, were dropped, Deputy District Attorney Laura Ditka said. Now the boys won't have to testify.

"It's horrible for these two little boys," Ms. Ditka said. "They feel responsible for the demise of their siblings, and they feel responsible for their mothers, and they're just grade-schoolers. It's too much responsibility and hurt to place on the shoulders of little children."

After touring the fire-ravaged home at 6429 Winslow St. last summer, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. announced that he was charging the victims' absent mothers, explaining: "These kids, by all indications, were left home alone with two 8-year-olds, and that's not acceptable conduct in this community."

Ms. Love, 26, of Hazelwood, cried as she pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of her children, Andre Rankin, 6, and Azequel Rankin, 5. Huedon Chambliss is her son.

"My lawyer asked me not to speak with [anyone], but the only thing I want to say was that I didn't want my son going through the trial process," said Ms. Love, who faces 10 to 20 years in prison.

Ms. Love said her son was upset and still mourning the loss of his brothers, but that with the support of family and the community, he was "doing fine."

As for herself, she said, "I'm coping with it. I'm still mourning."

The district attorney dropped a charge of making a false report to police.

Ms. Love's defense attorney, Joel M. Dresbold, declined to comment on the case.

Ms. Mangham, 26, of Verona, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of her children, Daekia Holyfield, 7, Cedano Holyfield, 4, and Dezekiah Holyfield, 3. Jevon Irwin is her son.

In addition, Ms. Mangham pleaded no contest to filing a false police report. She initially gave investigators the name of a 17-year-old female baby sitter who she said was supposed to be watching the children that night. Police conducted an intensive search and asked for the public's help finding the baby sitter.

Ms. Mangham later admitted that explanation was a lie to avoid possible arrest before the children's funeral.

The prosecutor said Ms. Mangham, who has no prior record, faces 17 to 34 years in prison.

Defense lawyer James M. Ecker said his client felt "absolutely and completely devastated" by the losses. "She just can't get over what happened. She's going to have to live with it all her life, that three of her children are dead. She has accepted responsibility for what she did."

He said his client was in counseling and had resumed taking classes at Community College of Allegheny County

Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman set sentencing for May 22. Both women are free on bond.

Investigators believe the fire began around 1:23 a.m. June 12, on an upstairs landing of the three-story home. The children who perished were all in an upstairs bedroom. The older boys were in an upstairs den.

One of the two older boys ran out a back door; the other was carried to safety by a neighbor. The older boys yelled for help and a neighbor called 911.

Their mothers returned from their outing just as firetrucks arrived at the scene.

Firefighters found the 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-year-old children unresponsive in the bedroom. Paramedics pronounced two children dead at the scene. Three others were rushed to West Penn Hospital in cardiac arrest. One was declared dead upon arrival and the other two died in the emergency room.

The county medical examiner declared that all five died of smoke inhalation.

Police later said the one smoke detector found on the second floor was inoperable.

Ms. Love's father, Lutual Love, said the children's deaths "changed our lives around."

"I'm just praying that the judge understands that the children we lost is sentence enough for everybody," he said, weeping outside the courthouse.