WILLOW GROVE, PA — A pregnant mother and her boyfriend have been accused of severely beating her four-year-old son and scalding him in a shower until he died as punishment because he spilled his cereal Daily Mail reports.
Lisa Smith, 19, and her boyfriend Keiff King, 26, of Willow Grove, near Philadelphia, were arrested on Tuesday after they called 911, saying her Tahjir was unconscious.
Police say that after the little boy spilled the food, Smith and King decided to punish him by punching him in the back of the head, stripping him naked from the waist down and using a sandal to smack his buttocks.
King punched and struck the boy in the back of the head.
The assault was so severe that the youngster urinated on himself and became unconscious.
King then placed him in the shower and blasted him with cold and scalding hot water, Smith told police.
When Tahjir was still unresponsive after the shower, Smith said, she wanted to call 911, but King told her, ‘He is still breathing. He is cool. He is still up,’ according to the documents.
Then, Smith told police, she watched Tahjir’s eyes roll back and his mouth open.
King dressed Tahjir, the couple took him outside, and they called 911.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele told Fox 29: ‘This senseless death of a four-year-old boy at the hands of the very adults who are supposed to care for him and keep him safe is a horrible tragedy’.
When the emergency services arrived, the pair made up a story as to why the boy wasn’t responsive.
The couple could face murder charges depending what the final autopsy results reveal.
On Tuesday they were charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, child endangerment, and related offenses. They could face murder charges when the autopsy on the boy is complete.
Smith is also currently eight months pregnant, according to Fox 29.
