A mother and her boyfriend are facing charges after a toddler in Louisiana died after being scalded with hot water.
Authorities in Louisiana arrested 25-year-old Lindsey McBride and her boyfriend John Harper, 32, on April 7, after McBride’s two-year-old son, Gavin McBride, died eight days after he was taken to a Shreveport hospital with burns on his legs, genitals and buttocks. The couple is currently facing charges of second-degree cruelty to a child, but Steve Tew, District Attorney for the 4th Judicial District, claims that he is considering second-degree murder charges against one or both suspects, according to PEOPLE.
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According to an arrest warrant, Gavin McBride passed away on April 14 after he was taken to a hospital on April 6 with severe burns to his body. He had also sustained splash burns to his face and hospital staff discovered old and new bruises covering his body.
Social services notified police that Gavin had been taken to a hospital with second-degree burns, where he was reportedly “moaning and appeared to be in severe pain.”
During an interview with authorities, McBride claimed that the toddler had fallen down a set of stairs at their home three days earlier. She then alleged that he had accidentally burned himself when he pulled a pot off of the stove.
However, McBride had waited 36 hours to take her son to a hospital, where he was then airlifted to a pediatric hospital unit in Shreveport.
A hospital official told investigators that Gavin had been “deprived of oxygen for an unknown period of time, possibly by choking.”
“The nurse said that the baby’s injuries do not match the version of events as told by Lindsey McBride and John Harper,” the warrant states. “The nurse also said that the child tested positive for amphetamines.”
John Lowery, Gavin’s father, who shared custody with McBride, told local news stations that he and other family members had not noticed any signs of abuse.
“If either side of the family had seen any signs, we would have shut down shop. This would not have happened,” Lowery told local station KNOE 8 News.
Charges against McBride and Harper have not yet been filed and they have not yet been arraigned or entered pleas. They are currently being held in the Ouachita Correctional Center on a $65,000 bond.
