NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – A mother and her live-in boyfriend were booked on child abuse charges Tuesday after a New Orleans hospital noticed disturbing injuries on a 5-year-old boy. A nurse at Children’s Hospital reported the injuries to the NOPD. They included head and abdominal trauma and swelling, bite marks, burns, a cut lip, and the child was missing several teeth and fingernails.
37-year-old Heather Simpson and 34-year-old Cristian DeGregory of Central City face second-degree cruelty to a juvenile. Simpson had called 911 Monday saying her son had stopped breathing after a seizure.
During a police interview, Simpson and DeGregory offered several excuses for the injuries, reports NOLA.com, but Simpson told police they were treating them at home. Simpson said she had not taken her son to a doctor since February 2013.