A 27-year-old mother in Alabama was arrested this week and is accused of intentionally burning her infant son, pouring hot soup on the 10-month-old child’s face. Jasmine M. Boykin was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with one count of aggravated child abuse for allegedly causing the horrific injuries to the little boy, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
A report from Mobile Fox affiliate WALA states that on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 14, Boykin brought her son to a local hospital to be treated for burns that doctors said appeared to have been caused by someone pouring hot liquid over the child’s face. Hospital personnel subsequently notified law enforcement about the suspicious nature of the victim’s injuries and investigators began looking into the circumstances of how he was burned.
Jasmine M. Boykin (Mobile County Metro Jail)
In court papers filed in Mobile County Circuit Court, prosecutors allege that Boykin “did willfully torture, willfully abuse, cruelly beat or otherwise maltreat” her son by “failing to immediately seek medical attention after the child was severely burned on the face and throat,” according to a report from Mobile CBS affiliate WKRG.
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Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood reportedly told WKRG that Boykin’s son is only 10 months old. He said that the boy not only suffered severe burns around his face, throat, and mouth areas but that the victim also appeared emaciated and malnourished when medical personnel first provided treatment.
“Children are, you know, the ones that need the most protection,” Blackwood reportedly told the station. “And certainly babies, a 10-month-old is in need of protection. And so when a child is abused and especially, you know, when a baby is abused, we take this very seriously.”
After medics treated Boykin’s son, they took Boykin into custody and booked her into the Mobile County Metro Jail. She was released from detention after posting her $60,000 bond, WALA reported.
Authorities did not speculate about a possible motive as to why Boykin allegedly burned her child.
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