Boy, 4, Died After Scalding Bath Burned Him Severely, Mom & Stepmom Put Body in Dumpster to Hide Death

A stepmother who authorities say fatally scalded her 4-year-old stepson in the bath and then got rid of the body alongside her partner pleaded guilty Tuesday to child abuse resulting in death, reports say.

According to CBS News, Shatika Lawson will be sentenced December 6 for her part in the slaying of Malachi Lawson.

The boy's biological mother Alicia Lawson, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges in 2021. She is currently serving a life sentence with 30 years suspended in connection with the summer 2019 killing of Malachi.

Malachi's body was found in a dumpster, a day after Alicia reported him missing. She initially told police she last saw her son on his grandmother's porch, PEOPLE previously reported, but eventually confessed his remains were dumped 10 miles away from their home.

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According to the Baltimore Sun and ABC News, citing charging documents, on July 23, 2019, Alicia and Shatika were giving Malachi a bath after he soiled himself, the women told police. While they washed his dirty clothes in the sink, they turned around and saw Malachi had "serious" burns on his body from his waist down.

The burns were so severe the women could see skin floating in the bathwater at the time.

But the women did not call 911, out of "fear that the child would be taken from them, that they would get in trouble for what happened to the child and their past history with child protective services," the charging documents stated, per reports.

Instead, over the next nine days, they treated Malachi at home on their own.

On Aug. 1, Alicia said she woke up to find her son dead. She then wrapped him in a blanket and called a Lyft to take her to a dumpster 10 miles from home.

Shatika faces up to life in prison.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.