By Chauncey Alcorn
An 11-month-old baby girl was still in critical condition Tuesday afternoon, a week after the mother’s Jackson Heights boyfriend is accused of pouring scalding hot water on the child to stop her from crying, according to the Queens district attorney’s office.
Anthony Parra, 20, of 31-29 73rd St., was arrested May 19, the same day the incident took place. During his arraignment the following day, he pleaded not guilty to assault and child endangerment charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Investigators said the baby was burned when the child’s mother was at work. Parra was watching the alleged victim and her 2-year-old sister in his apartment around 3 a.m. May 19, when the younger girl woke up crying, according to news reports. Parra tried to bottle-feed the baby, but she refused and kept crying. Parra told authorities the baby’s mother told him she sometimes would run warm water from the shower on the baby to soothe her when she cried, so Parra tried the same thing, taking the baby into the shower for 20 minutes, according to reports.
Investigators said when the baby kept crying, he twice turned up the temperature of the water. They said Parra noticed the baby’s skin began turning red and he tried scrubbing it with a sponge, which caused her skin to peel. Parra then went into the kitchen and ran hot water from the sink into a pan, which he allegedly poured over the baby while she was on all fours in the shower, investigators said.
They said Parra put some kind of cream and alcohol on the baby’s burns before taking her to the hospital. An NYPD spokesman said officers were called around 4:50 a.m. May 19 to New York Hospital Queens for a suspected case of child abuse, where a doctor told them the baby received second-degree burns on 30 percent of her body and would be permanently scarred as a result.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said this is the 10th case of violence against children in Queens during the last six months.
“The fragility of a small child cannot be emphasized enough,” he said. “There is no excuse for these senseless attacks. The defendants in these cases must be severely punished.”
Reach reporter Chauncey Alcorn by e-mail at calcorn@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
