Couple accused of putting infant son in microwave

A Missouri couple is facing felony child abuse charges after investigators determined their infant  son was assaulted and put in a microwave for a “short period of time,” court documents show.

Derick Boyce-Slezak and Mikala Boyce-Slezak, both 22, of Park Hills, were charged Tuesday in St. Francois County with felony abuse or neglect of a child after their son — who was younger than 4 months at the time — was taken to a hospital in April for a rash on his face that was actually a wound, according to court papers obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

While at the hospital, both Derick and Mikala Boyce-Slezak claimed the second-degree burn was caused by a cleaning agent. Tests also revealed, however, that the boy had a fractured skull and a subdural hematoma, a head injury that can cause swelling on the brain, according to the documents.

Mikala Boyce-Slezak then invoked her Fifth Amendment right during a hearing on Monday. Derick Boyce-Slezak, meanwhile, did not testify.

But an employee from the Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services said during the hearing that Mikala Boyce-Slezak previously stated that she intended to testify that the head wounds were from Derick Boyce-Slezak dropping the boy during an attempt to imitate a television commercial.

The employee also testified that Mikala Boyce-Slezak believes Derick Boyce-Slezak placed the baby boy inside a microwave and turned it on for a “short period of time.”

Additional testimony also revealed that the infant had another fracture that was later found, the Daily Journal reports.

Derick and Mikala Boyce-Slezak, who remain jailed on $500,000 bail, also had a baby girl in January 2016 but waived custody of the girl shortly after she was born, the Post-Dispatch reports.

via:  https://nypost.com/2017/11/30/couple-accused-of-putting-infant-son-in-microwave/