No charges yet filed in toddler's burns

PORTALES, N.M. (KBIM-KRQE) - The parents or a Portales toddler are wondering why nothing's been done with a four-month investigation into their son's severe burns.

Around 5 p.m. on Sept. 22, Michael Garcia was at the Blessed Day Care in Portales when the 18-month-old allegedly grabbed a piping hot bowl of beans and spilled it on himself.

He was rushed to the emergency room and then airlifted to Lubbock, Texas.

"He was holding his hands up just looking at them crying he was in pain," said Michael's mother Monica Garcia as she recalled seeing her son in the emergency room.

"The moment I stepped into the emergency room and saw his burns, there's no way that could happen. Unless the laws of physics didn't apply to my son that day," said Michael's father Javier Garcia.

The Garcia's don't believe the spilled bean accident really happened because Michael was shirtless in the emergency room, and his pants and shoes were clean.

"What doctors asked was, 'Does he have any splash marks?' There was not one splash mark that could be found on his body anywhere so the next thing they told us was, in order for his hands and his palms and the ring around his wrist, he had to have been emerged in some hot liquid," said Monica.

The owner of the day care, Maria Lopez, said state Children, Youth, and Families Department investigators visited her four times and concluded it was in fact an accident.

Her license was renewed in October.

The Garcia's had found the Blessed Day Care through friends who recommended Lopez.

Lopez says this is the first time a major accident has happened during her more than 30-year career taking care of children.

But now, the Garcia's are asking why charges haven't been filed against Lopez.

“Had my child been burned in my home, I would be in jail facing neglectful child abuse,” said Monica. “For something that hot, to be in a child's reach, that's neglectful."

The Garcia's say Michael has healed for the most part. He spent nine days in the burn unit and still needs to have plastic surgery on his right hand so that it can become fully functional. They've received medical bills totaling $60,000.

The Roosevelt County Sheriff's Department says the case is still active, and could be handed back to the District Attorney's Office soon.