3-Year-Old Scalded In Hill District, Mother Charged
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A couple from Pittsburgh's Uptown neighborhood is facing charges after the woman's 3-year-old daughter was scalded last month.
The woman's boyfriend allegedly got mad at the child after she lost a sock and put her in a bathtub of scalding hot water.
The child suffered second-degree burns.
According to the criminal complaint, the girl's mother, Shaquia Farrell, initially lied to police about what transpired.
During her initial interview, she said she was home with the 3-year-old and her 3-month-old son. Farrell said she turned the water on in the tub and left the girl alone in the bathroom to go check on the little boy.
When questioned about why the burns to the girl's body did not line up with what doctors had found, she admitted she was lying to cover up for her boyfriend, 20-year-old Patrick Johnson.
He is also the father of the 3-month-old boy.
Farrell said she was at work when Johnson called her and said. "You're going to be so mad at me. I hurt your child. You're never going to want to be with me."
Johnson allegedly told Farrell that the girl had thrown up and he was getting a bath ready for her. He told the girl to get into the tub as he went into another room when he heard the girl scream.
The girl also had bruises on her face.
Farrell said she did not have those bruises when she left for work, but noticed them when she returned home.
Farrell said Johnson told her the girl fell in her room, possibly on one of her toys.
Farrell is being held on $50,000 bond and is facing several charges including, endangering the welfare of a child and making false reports to police.
Johnson is facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Both Farrell and Johnson are being held at the Allegheny County Jail.
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