John Jefferson
Background: The South Franklinton, Ohio, neighborhood where Laronda Mims’ son was allegedly burned (Google Maps). Inset: Emmanuel Mims (GoFundMe).
An Ohio woman whose 3-year-old son died after being scalded by hot water at home has been indicted following an investigation into the boy’s death.
At 7:45 a.m. on the morning of Jan. 6, Laronda Mims, 45, called 911 to report that her toddler son, Emmanuel, had pulled a pot full of hot water from the stove in their apartment. The water spilled on the boy, and he was unresponsive, according to the Columbus Division of Police. He was brought to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where lifesaving measures were given. Those efforts were unsuccessful, and Emmanuel was pronounced dead at 8:18 a.m.
Police noted in their report that the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death merited an investigation by the Columbus Police Homicide Unit. The Columbus Dispatch reported that Mims was initially detained by police but was not charged and was released from custody.
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Court records showed that Mims was indicted by a grand jury on two charges of endangering a child — one felony count and one misdemeanor — and one charge of involuntary manslaughter. A warrant was issued the same day as the indictment, Jan. 28.
WSYX, a local ABC affiliate, reported that Franklin County Children’s Services was working with the family. Latrice Edgington, a neighbor who spoke to the station, also said that she had seen police officers at the apartment “numerous times” before the boy’s death on Jan. 6. Edgington told WSYX that the family had only started living at the apartment the previous summer.
Edgington saw first responders bringing Emmanuel out to transport him to the hospital on the morning he died. She told WSYX, “The baby had a little mask on his face … Just seeing him, I was just crying, seeing him wrapped up in that blanket like that.”
The Franklin County Coroner’s Office is conducting an autopsy on Emmanuel to determine his exact cause and manner of death. It has not yet been completed, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
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