I've seen a lot of these stories floating around the site, and many other sites. This one makes me especially sick. Blah.
Woman charged in tub death
Authorities say suspect meant to burn toddler in bath
December 23, 2004
BY BILL LAITNER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A 27-year-old Orion Township woman who police said burned her boyfriend's 22-month-old daughter during a bath in scalding water was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday, three days after the baby's father reported the infant had stopped breathing.
Letitia Johnson was held without bond in the Oakland County Jail after her appearance in 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills. Her preliminary examination was set for Jan. 4 before District Judge Julie Nicholson. If convicted, Johnson could be sentenced to up to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Wednesday they believe the woman intended to harm the baby, identified by police as Jasmine Phillips. The woman gave the child a bath Saturday night in scalding water, then diapered the child and put her to bed, even though the baby clearly was suffering, according to her statements to police.
The next morning, the baby's father, Johnson's 26-year-old boyfriend, Louie Phillips, found Jasmine unresponsive and called 911, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. Jasmine was taken to POH Medical Center in Pontiac and pronounced dead at 11 a.m. Sunday.
The Oakland County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by dehydration from extensive third-degree burns.
The burns were so bad, Bouchard said, the child's skin was falling off.
Johnson has six children of her own, all under age 8, by four fathers, including Phillips, said Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Sara Pope-Starnes.
The couple had been living for at least four months in an apartment about three miles north of Pontiac with three children the couple had together, Pope-Starnes said. The other children, including the baby that died, "would come for visits, but we have no idea how often they would come and go from the home," she said.
Some of the children lived with grandparents, others with another biological parent, Pope-Starnes said.
Sheriff's deputies found that the apartment's water heater was on its highest setting and that its hot water was 147 degrees -- far hotter than human skin can tolerate. A doctor at Children's Hospital of Michigan told police water that hot would cause third-degree burns to an adult within five seconds.
"And a child's skin is much more sensitive than an adult's," Pope-Starnes said. She said parents should know that "you always, always, check the temperature before putting a child in a bathtub.
"The other thing to know is that if a child is burned, you must get medical attention immediately," Pope-Starnes said.
Instead, Johnson swabbed the child with petroleum jelly and put her to bed, she told police.
Because Johnson failed to call 911, Pope-Starnes said, "she sought to hide what she'd done, which is indicative to us that the scalding was an intentional act."
At an Oakland County Family Court preliminary hearing Tuesday before Referee Carla Mallett, Johnson's six children were temporarily placed in the legal custody of the Michigan Family Independence Agency.
The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office and the Family Independence Agency are seeking to terminate Johnson's parental rights over all of her children.



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