A woman charged with her four-year-old stepson’s death pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in the child’s death.
Shatika Lawson, was charged with causing the death of her stepson, Malachi Lawson, by scalding him in the bath, not getting medical care for his burns, and disposing of his body with her partner, the boy’s biological mother, Alicia Lawson. She pleaded guilty on Tuesday and will be sentenced on December 6.
Lawson had previously pleaded guilty to the charges in 2021 and is currently serving 30 year sentence for her part in the murder.
According to charging documents, on July 23, 2019, both women were bathing the child after he soiled himself. While they were washing his clothes, they turned around and saw that Malachi had “serious” burns on his lower body. The burns were so severe that they could see his skin floating in the bathwater.
Despite the severity of the burns, the women did not call 911 out of fear that child protective services would take Malachi away. They feared getting into trouble for Malachi’s injuries and had a history with child protective services. Instead, they decided to treat the boy’s severe burns at home for nine days.
On August 1, 2019, Alicia woke up to find her son unresponsive. She wrapped him in a blanket, put him inside a trash bag and called a Lyft, which took her to a dumpster about 10 miles away from their home, and tossed him in.
Investigators checked the water temperature at the Lawsons’ residence and determined that it never exceeded lukewarm temperature, contradicting any possibility of the child’s scalding being accidental.
Shatika could get life in prison.
