A mother is facing a manslaughter charge after police say she didn't get help for her 1-year-old child who died after he was severely burned at their home in southwest Miami-Dade Thursday.
Christina Marie Hurt, 35, was arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter and booked into jail early Friday morning, records showed.
Hurt was arrested after a woman called police shortly after 11 a.m. after seeing her place the boy on a mattress outside a home near the 12000 block of Southwest 217th Street in Goulds.
Police found the unresponsive child and took him to the hospital, where he later died. He was identified as Ethan Coley.
According to an arrest report, police say the mother of three - who has previously lost custody of her children before - became worried on Wednesday when her four-year-old child burned the toddler with hot water when trying to give him a bath at their Homestead home.
Hurt allegedly refused to seek medical attention for Coley, who had burns to his torso and toes, instead consulting friends and giving the child Tylenol and juice - telling police she was afraid of losing her children again, the report said.
After driving her older kids to school Thursday, police say Hurt went to the friend's house in Goulds and continued trying to give the child first aid before he became unresponsive.
Police say witnesses told Hurt to take the child to a hospital, but she refused. Coley had severe burns from mid torso to the toes, the report said.
#Mother Arrested on Manslaughter Charge After 1-Year-Old #Toddler —Ethan Coley—Dies From Burns at SW #Miami-Dade Home. The details on @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/UhnhaZDzrt
— Amanda Plasencia (@AmandaNBC6) January 19, 2018
One witness who tried to help revive the boy said it was the worst thing he's seen in all his life.
"I hear them screaming across the street 'please help save my baby!' so I said I'm going to go and see what's going on over there. It's a little child, I have to go," Randolph Joseph said. "So I run over to help, when I go I see them shaking the baby but the baby was gone already so we tried to do CPR."
Police said Hurt had previously been under investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families for child neglect, where she temporarily lost custody of her children.
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At a dependency hearing Friday attended by the kids' father, a judge ordered them to have no contact with Hurt and placed them in DCF custody.
Hurt was being held on $10,000 bond Friday, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.
