Kennewick baby treated for burns. Mom accused of using hair flat iron on him

A $25,000 warrant has been issued for a Kennewick mom who allegedly caused first- and second-degree burns to her baby with a flat iron.

Maliyah L. Fairchild, 22, told police at the time that her 11-month-old yanked on the cord of the hair-straightening tool and was burned when it fell off the bathroom counter.

However, a doctor with the child abuse team at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center determined the child’s injuries were intentionally inflicted, and not accidental, according to court documents.

The boy — who was just days away from turning 1 — had first-degree burns on his left cheek and second-degree burns on his left and right forearms, left tricep, left calf and left thigh, documents said.

The alleged incident happened last June.

It was not disclosed if the child is still in Fairchild’s custody.

Fairchild was charged recently in Benton County Superior Court with second-degree assault of a child, a felony.

Kennewick police were called to the emergency department at Trios Southridge Hospital on June 9 for a child with suspicious burns.

A nurse practitioner told Officer Tony Valdez that the 11-month-old’s father told medical staff he had been sleeping and awoke to his son crying. Fairchild told him their son pulled the hot iron off the counter and was burned, court documents said.

The nurse advised that the baby’s severe burns were not consistent with the mother’s account, and believed they were caused by the straightener being clamped onto the child’s arms and legs, documents said.

When Detective Marco Monteblanco took over the investigation and interviewed the father, the child’s dad repeated his earlier statement.

He later told Monteblanco that he’d been sleeping because he was working nights at the time, and did not know how long his son had been screaming before he woke up.

Fairchild told Monteblanco that she’d been styling her hair in the master bathroom while her son was in bed with his sleeping father.

At some point, she went to the kitchen to make some food and left the flat iron plugged in on the bathroom counter, court documents said.

Fairchild said she was in the kitchen when she heard the baby crying and found him on the bathroom floor with the flat iron.

Medical records and photos were sent to Harborview, where Dr. Rebecca Wiester noted there were a significant number of burns on different body parts.

She determined that “several of the burns are large brand-like burns, which are unlike glancing burns from a falling object,” documents said.

This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM.