HOUSTON – A warrant has been issued for a woman’s arrest after she placed a 3-year-old girl in a tub of scalding hot water, causing her to receive third-degree burns and undergo several surgeries, court documents said.
Deana Nicole Lamb, 34, was charged with injury to a child – serious bodily injury.
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Court documents said on April 21, an officer with the Houston Police Department Crimes Against Children Unit was dispatched to Memorial Herman Children’s Hospital in the Medical Center after receiving reports that the toddler was brought to the hospital by her mother on April 1 with submersion burns to her lower body. A doctor said the child had a combination of second- and third-degree burns to both her legs, buttocks and genitals, which covered 25% of her body.
Police said they interviewed Lamb, who said she had custody of the child. The suspect said she popped the girl after she pooped on herself. She then told the child, “You know the routine” and “Go take a bath,” court documents said.
Lamb said the child was on the toilet when she cut the water on, but she hadn’t put the plug in the tub yet. She let the child finish using the restroom and cleaned her up, documents said.
Lamb said she told the girl to get inside the tub and when she did, she said, “It’s hot.” Lamb responded, saying, “‘That water is not hot.” Lamb said that she went to go get a towel and when she came back, the child pooped again and was sitting down in the tub, scooting back from the poop. The suspect pulled the child from the tub and saw her feet, which looked like “her skin was bubbling and peeling,” court documents said.
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According to Lamb, the child wasn’t crying but she had a “confused” look on her face when asked if her feet were hurting.
Lamb said she took the child into the room and called the girl’s mother to let her know, “her feet and skin is peeling,” court documents said. When the suspect opened the child’s towel, she said she noticed her legs were burned too.
An HPD officer reportedly tested the water with a thermometer and received a reading of 128.4 Fahrenheit in 30 seconds, 132.0 Fahrenheit in one minute, and in one minute and 30 seconds, it was 132.2 Fahrenheit, court documents said.
According to a doctor, data obtained through studies determined that for the girl to receive second-degree burns, she would’ve been in 130 Fahrenheit water for at least 10 seconds.
According to reports from Child Protective Services, the girl’s mother informed them that while in Lamb’s custody, she was taking a bath with her twin sibling with Epsom salt because she has eczema and when Lamb removed her from the tub, some of the girl’s skin came off, but the twin sibling was uninjured. A second report from CPS stated that Lamb gave both the girl and her twin a bath at the same time with Epsom salt, dish soap and skin oil. Lamb noticed that the girl’s skin was starting to “fluff up,” but the twin sibling’s skin was normal, documents said.
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The child’s mother told investigators that Lamb called her twice within about 20 minutes and told her that the child’s skin was peeling as she touched it and she didn’t know what to do. Lamb told the girl’s mom she was not crying, and the mom told her to put some Vaseline on her because it may be her eczema, documents said.
Lamb sent pictures to the mother of all the products used in the tub, which appeared to be Epsom salt, baby oil, Bio Oil, Palmolive, and Dr. Teals Foaming Bath. Court documents said that Lamb wrapped the child’s legs in gauze and put Neosporin on them. The child’s mother said she saw what she described as “water” leaking from the child’s left foot and it appeared “bubbly.” The mom said she heard something about the victim defecating in the tub but said she wasn’t sure if it happened while both the girl and her twin sister were in the tub or just the victim.
After picking up the children from Lamb’s residence, the girl’s mother said she went back to her home to have a family member watch her other children so that she could take the victim to the hospital.
According to court documents, a doctor said the girl had to have 12 surgeries. In seven of those surgeries, the child had to get anesthesia due to the dressing changes being so painful. Five of the girl’s surgeries have been for skin grafts. The child continues to need care for her injuries, the doctor said.
A doctor told investigators, “No skin care products such as Epsom salt” could have caused that much damage to the girl’s skin.
Lamb was arrested and charged with theft in 2014.