3 to face trial over baby boy’s burns
Three women were ordered Friday to stand trial on allegations they failed to get medical care for an Oklahoma City baby boy burned so badly his right leg had to be amputated.
The boy's godmother, mother and another woman are charged with felony child neglect. They face up to life in prison, if convicted.
The burns were caused by hot liquid, a doctor concluded.
During a preliminary hearing Friday, the boy's great-grandmother sat in the courtroom and repeatedly called the godmother and other woman "evil."
"They hurt a baby," the great-grandmother said after the hearing. "They need to go to jail for the rest of their lives."
She then left the courtroom with the boy's mother, Cabrion Monay Washington.
Washington, 26, Breanna Lanae Cole, 26, and Cordett Lashawn Cole, 43, pleaded not guilty Friday. Oklahoma County Special Judge Mark McCormick found enough evidence to send their case to trial.
Breanna Cole, the boy's godmother, also is charged with felony child abuse, accused of burning the boy on Dec. 10, "causing extensive injuries including the amputation of his leg.”
The boy was 11 months old at the time. He was burned from his "navel down to his feet," police said. He wasn't taken to a hospital until Christmas Day.
Nearly half of the boy's body was burned, a medical expert for the prosecution testified Friday.
The expert, Dr. Ryan Brown, said the boy likely was "dipped" into a large volume of hot water based on the burn marks. The doctor noted there was a "straight line of immersion" across the middle of the boy's body.
Breanna Cole, though, told police that the boy had a seizure and pulled a hot tea kettle off a table, burning his lower body. The doctor testified the boy's injuries were not consistent with being splashed by hot water.
Breanna Cole said she had been caring for the boy since Dec. 8, police reported. Washington told police Breanna Cole was watching her son while her other child was sick.
After the boy was burned, the godmother said she put a towel around him. She said when she took off the towel, his skin was coming off with it, police reported.
Breanna Cole said her mother, Cordett Cole, told her to treat the burns at home because they were "not bad," according to police.
The incident occurred Dec. 10 at Cordett Cole's house in northeast Oklahoma City, police reported.
The medical expert also noted the boy had multiple bruises on his head, bleeding around his brain and a dislocated tooth. The injuries were consistent with child abuse, the expert testified.
The boy ultimately was taken to a burn center in Texas. On Dec. 26, his right leg was amputated. Had the boy received immediate medical treatment, the amputation wouldn't have been necessary, doctors told police.
Prosecutors allege Washington visited her son after he was burned and "then left the child with the abuser."
Washington contends she was never told her child was hurt and only saw his hands when she visited him, according to her attorney.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services currently has custody of the boy.