Druggie boyfriend boiled toddler to loss of life and deserted him within the bathtub to get excessive
A man has been thrown in jail for the murder of a toddler he abandoned in a scalding hot bath. Despite being covered in burns, medical experts made another grim revelation while investigating the death
Henry Wheatley-Brown, one(Image: ABC7)
A toddler tragically lost his life after he was abandoned in a scalding hot bath by his mother’s boyfriend, who left the child to pick up drugs.
During the shocking ordeal when the burns were found on the child – instead of administering medical attention, ointment was applied by the couple instead, leading to the boy’s death. The horror occurred back in September 2023 while Sergio Mena, 34, was watching over Henry Wheatley-Brown – the one-year-old son of his girlfriend Samantha Garver, 36.
On the day of the tragic incident Mena was set to bathe the child and placed the toddler into the scalding bath. Mena then left the infant to pick up some methamphetamine and came back to find the boy screaming after being “severely burned.” Mena then called the one-year-old’s mother who returned home later that evening.
Prosecutors stated: “Despite Henry’s extensive and life-threatening injuries, neither defendant sought medical care, instead attempting to treat the burns with over‑the‑counter ointment”. The following day Mena and his girlfriend called emergency services stating Henry was suffering from “shallow breathing.”
Sergio Mena, 34, and Samantha Garver, 36(Image: ABC7)
A press release into the boy’s death stated he was found “without a pulse, ice‑cold to the touch and severely dehydrated,” by paramedics. The child was later pronounced dead.
In a shocking revelation into the boy’s death medical experts found the infant had suffered ongoing abuse and had received multiple bone fractures in both arms.
The child had also suffered from second and third degree burns from the fatal bath. Henry’s grandmother, Sierra Rivers, told the Los Angeles Times she had heard Garver stating: “I got abused as a kid and I got hit as a baby, and I turned out fine.”
Samantha Garver, 36, the child’s mother (Image: ABC7)
An investigation into the child’s death was launched concluding “abuse and neglect” was responsible for the child losing their life.
The district attorney’s office stated: “Although nothing can bring back baby Henry or erase the suffering he endured, today’s sentences deliver justice and ensure these defendants will never again harm a child.”
Samantha Garver, 36, was convicted of manslaughter and child abuse causing great bodily injury to one-year-old Henry Wheatley-Brown.
Mena, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse causing great bodily injury to the boy. Garver was sentenced to 14 years for the death of her infant child.
Mena was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison for the murder of Henry.
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