Posted 10:40 am Thursday, September 27, 2012
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UPDATE: Testimony: Scalded child's aunt gave 2 different versions of what happened
Updated Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 10:29 a.m. CDT
Tyler Police Detective Michelle Brock told the jury in the Kenneth and Shelley Walker injury to a child trial this morning that Amanda Walker, the child's aunt, gave police two accounts of what happened at two different interviews.
In her first interview on Feb. 29, Ms. Walker said Shelley Walker told her she had been folding clothes in her bedroom when the 2-year-old locked herself in the bathroom and ran the scalding water. In her second interview, Amanda Walker told police that the 2-year old had come into the living room where Kenneth and Shelley Walker were watching television and said her feet had been burned.
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In her first interview on Feb. 29, Ms. Walker said Shelley Walker told her she had been folding clothes in her bedroom when the 2-year-old locked herself in the bathroom and ran the scalding water. In her second interview, Amanda Walker told police that the 2-year old had come into the living room where Kenneth and Shelley Walker were watching television and said her feet had been burned.
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A 2-year-old girl's grandparents, accused of deliberately burning her feet, told a paramedic the child accidentally burned herself when she filled a bathtub with scalding water and stepped in it, the paramedic testified Wednesday.
The testimony came from Gayle Holt, a paramedic from East Texas Medical Center in the second day of the trial of Kenneth and Shelley Walker of Whitehouse on Wednesday.
The trial is taking place in the 241st District Court with Judge Jack Skeen Jr. presiding.
Kenneth Neal Walker, 55, and his wife, Shelley Walker, 60, were each charged with injury to a child, a first-degree felony, after their arrest in March. They could get probation or up to life in prison if convicted, Smith County Assistant District Attorney Jason Parrish has said.
Tyler police were dispatched to 4201 Aberdeen St. on Feb. 28 after a report of burns to the 2-year-old's feet. It was not clear from Wednesday's testimony who contacted police.
Parrish said earlier that he could not comment on the case or the child's current condition.
In response to questioning from defense attorney Scott Ellis, Ms. Holt said Mrs. Walker “seemed concerned” about her then-2-year-old grandchild's condition.
Ms. Holt said the child had second-degree burns from her ankles down and the skin was peeling off. “I didn't bandage the wounds because I didn't want to aggravate the injuries,” she told the jury.
The testimony came from Gayle Holt, a paramedic from East Texas Medical Center in the second day of the trial of Kenneth and Shelley Walker of Whitehouse on Wednesday.
The trial is taking place in the 241st District Court with Judge Jack Skeen Jr. presiding.
Kenneth Neal Walker, 55, and his wife, Shelley Walker, 60, were each charged with injury to a child, a first-degree felony, after their arrest in March. They could get probation or up to life in prison if convicted, Smith County Assistant District Attorney Jason Parrish has said.
Tyler police were dispatched to 4201 Aberdeen St. on Feb. 28 after a report of burns to the 2-year-old's feet. It was not clear from Wednesday's testimony who contacted police.
Parrish said earlier that he could not comment on the case or the child's current condition.
In response to questioning from defense attorney Scott Ellis, Ms. Holt said Mrs. Walker “seemed concerned” about her then-2-year-old grandchild's condition.
Ms. Holt said the child had second-degree burns from her ankles down and the skin was peeling off. “I didn't bandage the wounds because I didn't want to aggravate the injuries,” she told the jury.
The child was screaming and crying as she was loaded onto the stretcher to go to the hospital, Ms. Holt said in court. “She appeared to be in pain,” Ms. Holt testified.
According to arrest affidavits, the child received burns to both feet and ankles that were consistent with second-degree immersion bilateral burns and not splash burns.
Tyler Detective Michelle Brock said in her affidavit in March that the child was in the care of the Walkers, who are her grandparents, when the injuries occurred.
Detective Brock stated in her affidavit that the Walkers gave multiple stories about the incident, but doctors told detectives the burns were not accidental.
Jeffrey Rackliff, a crime scene investigator with the Tyler Police Department, said he went to the Walkers' residence on Aberdeen Street on March 16 and took the temperatures of the water that came from all of the taps in the home as well as the water heater.
Rackliff testified that he turned the water heater to its highest temperature and let the water run in the tub in the master bathroom for 30 minutes. The water coming from the tap was 131 degrees and measured 128 to 129 degrees after four inches of it filled the bathtub.
Defense attorneys Ellis and Cameron Castleberry are representing the Walkers. Prosecutor Jeff Wood is serving as co-counsel with Parrish.
Testimony continues today.
According to arrest affidavits, the child received burns to both feet and ankles that were consistent with second-degree immersion bilateral burns and not splash burns.
Tyler Detective Michelle Brock said in her affidavit in March that the child was in the care of the Walkers, who are her grandparents, when the injuries occurred.
Detective Brock stated in her affidavit that the Walkers gave multiple stories about the incident, but doctors told detectives the burns were not accidental.
Jeffrey Rackliff, a crime scene investigator with the Tyler Police Department, said he went to the Walkers' residence on Aberdeen Street on March 16 and took the temperatures of the water that came from all of the taps in the home as well as the water heater.
Rackliff testified that he turned the water heater to its highest temperature and let the water run in the tub in the master bathroom for 30 minutes. The water coming from the tap was 131 degrees and measured 128 to 129 degrees after four inches of it filled the bathtub.
Defense attorneys Ellis and Cameron Castleberry are representing the Walkers. Prosecutor Jeff Wood is serving as co-counsel with Parrish.
Testimony continues today.
