An infant is battling both severe burns and broken bones in an Indianapolis hospital, while her young mother and father face criminal charges after trying to cover up her injuries.
Kaitlin Moore, 19, and her boyfriend Justin Weber, 24, face felony neglect charges after a Department of Child Services worker visited their Mooresville apartment and discovered their two month old daughter suffering from severe burns that hadn't been treated or reported at a hospital.
Tami Moran, who lives in the apartment next door, said Kaitlin Moore recently confided in her that she and her boyfriend Justin Weber were trying to treat their baby for burns from home.
Kaitlin explained that she was taking care of her baby when she slipped off her bath pad and into bath water that was too hot. At that point Tami knew something was horribly wrong.
"I told Justin, 'Bring the baby downstairs and he did,'" Tami said. "The baby was whimpering, and then I seen her face."
Kent Erdahl: "What did you see?"
Tami Moran: "Oh my God. She had… it was raw, I mean raw, all down her face. The skin had came off. And Kaitlin had told me that, that when she put the towel on her the skin just came off."
Both Kaitlin and Justin told Tami that the reason why they were trying to cover up the injuries to their two month old was because they were afraid she'd be taken away.
DCS had already been to their apartment twice in just the past two months. In one case the little girl had a black eye. According to the other case, Kaitlin said she ran into a door while carrying her daughter, which injured her arm.
"Thank God that they found her when they found her," Tami said.
The Department of Child Services found her thanks to a tip call from a friend. They took the baby and police took Kaitlin and Justin into custody on felony neglect charges for putting the infant in danger and hiding her injuries.
Investigators are also looking into much serious charges of abuse after finding much more than burns. Doctors discovered a total of 8 fractures to several bones including one rib, left and right arms, left and right legs, and her right ankle.
Despite what her neighbors told her, Tami doesn't believe anything was an accident.
"No, it's not true. I know it's not," Tami said. "I take showers with the same hot water heater. Our water does not get that hot. They deserve to pay the price for what they did to that child, and no matter what… karma… God… they'll get theirs."
Tami says she encourages to hear the two month old girl is going to live and slowly improving. She says she received an update from a family member late in the week.
"They told me that she was going to be okay," she said. "She's in the hospital dressed like a mummy, you know, but they caught it in time, the burn was healing and thank God that they found her when they found her."
