Shatika Lawson, the woman charged, along with her wife, with causing her four-year-old stepson’s death by scalding him in a bath, pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death. She is now awaiting sentencing on December 6.
Alicia Lawson, the child’s biological mother, had previously pleaded guilty to the charges in 2021 and is currently serving a 30-year sentence for her involvement in the tragic incident.
According to the charging documents, on July 23, 2019, both women were bathing Malachi Lawson after he soiled himself. While they were washing his clothes, they turned around to find that he had sustained severe burns on his lower body. The burns were so serious that they could see his skin floating in the bathwater.
Despite the severity of the injuries, the women chose not to call 911 out of fear that child protective services would remove Malachi from their custody. They had a history with child protective services and worried about getting into trouble. Instead, they opted to treat Malachi’s severe burns at home for nine days.
On August 1, 2019, Alicia found her son unresponsive. She wrapped him in a blanket, placed him inside a trash bag, and called a Lyft to take her to a dumpster about 10 miles away from their home, where she disposed of the boy’s body.
Investigators determined that the water temperature at the Lawsons’ residence never exceeded lukewarm, ruling out any possibility of the child’s scalding being accidental.
Shatika Lawson now faces the possibility of life in prison.
