A Missouri couple is facing charges of abuse of their four-month-old son after allegedly dropping him while trying to imitate a TV commercial and zapping him in a microwave.
Derick and Mikala Boyce-Slezak, both 22, of Park Hills, were charged on Tuesday and are jailed on $500,000 bond.
The injuries were discovered when the baby boy, who was just under four months, was taken to the Cardinal-Glennon Hospital Emergency Room in April for a rash on his face that turned out to be a wound, according to court documents obtained by the St Louis Post-Dispatch.
Missouri couple Derick and Mikala Boyce-Slezak, both 22 (right and left), of Park Hills, are facing charges of abuse of their four-month-old son after allegedly dropping him while trying to imitate a TV commercial and zapping him in a microwave
Doctors found the periphery of the wound to be a first-degree burn, with the majority of the wound being a second-degree burn, reported the Daily Journal.
A superficial second-degree burn was also visible on the front of the infant’s scalp. The infant was also suffering from a skull fracture and a subdural hematoma, a head injury that can cause swelling on the brain.
During testimony on Monday, according to the St Francois County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Mikala stated someone had cleaned the infant’s face with a towel that contained a bleach-like substance.
When asked about the child’s other injuries, she pleaded the Fifth Amendment. Derick did not testify.
The injuries were discovered when the baby boy, who was just under four months, was taken to Cardinal-Glennon Hospital (pictured) in April for a rash on his face. Doctors found the wound to be a second-degree burn, and the infant as also suffering from a skull fracture and a subdural hematoma, a head injury that can cause swelling on the brain
However, an employee of the Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services testified at the hearing that Mikala had stated that she intended to testify that the head wounds were a result of Derick dropping the baby while trying to imitate what he saw on a television commercial.
The Children’s Division employee also stated that Mikala had claimed she had reason to believe Derick had placed the infant in a microwave and turned it on for a ‘short period of time’.
The Post-Dispatch also reported that, according to court records, the couple are also the parents of a girl, who they waived custody of shortly after she was born in January 2016.