Christina Marie Hurt, 35, was booked on aggravated manslaughter charges on Friday
A mother has been arrested after her one-year-old son died from ‘severe’ bathwater burns, when she allegedly failed to get him medical assistance in fear of losing her children.
Christina Marie Hurt, 35, was booked on aggravated manslaughter charges early Friday in Miami, after her son died with ‘severe burns from his mid torso, to the toes’, police said.
Family friends identified the child as Ethan, who turned one in December. Officials have not yet confirmed the child’s name.
Hurt, who has five other children, previously served two years on probation for a 2014 child neglect charge, court records show.
She works as a waitress at Cracker Barrel and the Cheesecake Factory, according to her Facebook profile.
Hurt told investigators that Ethan was scalded on Wednesday night while she was taking the trash out at her house in Homestead, on the southern outskirts of Miami.
Family friends identified the dead child as Ethan (pictured left and right). He turned one in December and was one of six children
‘The defendant subsequently learned that while her 10-year-old daughter was attempting to bathe the victim, the defendant’s 4-year-old son made the bathwater extremely hot, causing the victim to sustain severe burns from his mid torso to the toes,’ police wrote in the arrest report cited by the Miami Herald.
‘The defendant stated that when she observed the victim’s injuries she dropped because the victim’s skin was burned and peeling,’ the report said.
But instead of calling for help, Hurt gave the baby Tylenol and juice while he threw up repeatedly during the night, according to the report.
Hurt allegedly told police that she didn’t call 911 because she feared losing custody of her children.
On Thursday morning, after dropping her other children off at school, Hurt said she took her injured son to a friends home in Goulds, about 10 miles away.
The home is reportedly some kind of flophouse, with as many as 30 people believed to be living in it.
On Thursday morning, Hurt allegedly took the injured child to this ramshackle home instead of calling paramedics. Witnesses said the baby was ‘lethargic and had shallow breathing’
Paramedics found the child unresponsive on a dirty mattress in the yard of the home in Goulds. Officials are seen removing the body from the home
Witnesses told cops that when Hurt arrived at the home in Goulds home, the baby was ‘lethargic and had shallow breathing’.
They urged her to get medical help, but she ‘adamantly refused’, according to the report.
Around 11am, the baby stopped breathing and Hurt took him outside and placed him on a mattress in the yard, police said.
Randy Joseph, whose sister lives next door, told CBS Miami that he gave the boy CPR while waiting for paramedics.
‘And when the paramedic came, they zip his zipper jumper down,’ Joseph said. ‘The paramedic said “oh my god.” I said “what the hell”.’
Rescue crews arrived to find the child unresponsive, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hurt was taken into police headquarters for questioning, and booked on charges at 1.22am on Friday, records show.
She is being held in Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center pending $10,000 bail.