‘Mommy Did It’ — Katie Grimes Accused Of Burning Toddler With Industrial Strength Bleach

25-year-old Katie Grimes and her 51-year-old mother are both facing charges of abuse and neglect as the woman’s toddler daughter is being treated for second-degree burns on 12 percent of her body, including her face and back. The child is two years of age. Police say the little girl’s mother, Katie Grimes, poured scalding hot water and industrial strength bleach on her own daughter and then neglected to take her to the hospital until more than 24 hours after the abuse occurred.

An investigator for Child Services says the toddler told her twice that “Mommy is mean.” The little girl then explained that it was the water “in the blue bucket” that burned her, and then added three chilling words.

“Mommy did it.”

Police began to investigate Katie Grimes after the toddler’s grandfather was not allowed to see her when he and his wife went to pick up their son’s three other children. The three other children apparently told their grandfather that their baby sister “screamed really loud” when their mother changed the toddler’s clothes. The two older children also told their grandfather that their youngest sibling had been burned with water.

According to county prosecutors, the grandparents went to the home of the children, obviously concerned, and asked Grimes about the burns. They say that when asked, Grimes replied, “It’s bad, but it’s none of your business.”

Grimes’ own account on what transpired with the toddler have been very inconsistent, according to police. The woman first told case investigators that she had filled two small trash cans half-full with a mixture of hot water and industrial bleach in order to clean her apartment, and then placed the two cans in the bathtub. She said she left the room, and then heard the toddler began to scream. Grimes claims that when she returned to the bathroom, she saw that her daughter had poured the hot water and bleach on herself. She says that she then treated the burns with ice and antibiotic ointment.

She told the police that the toddler sustained the burns around 9 p.m. on Friday, December 12. But Grimes mother, Karen Wynn, who is also charged with abuse and neglect for failing to report the burns, says that Grimes told her that the toddler was injured at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. Wynn reportedly told her daughter to take the toddler to the hospital, since by mid-afternoon the girl’s eyes were almost completely swollen shut, but Grimes refused. Neither woman called 911. Wynn also first claimed to not be present when the abuse occurred, but later admitted that she was present.

Wynn did admit to detectives that any reasonable person would have called 911 for help, but that she was afraid to do so because of a previous investigation done by the Children’s Division. Acoording to the toddler’s uncle, the little girl and her siblings were taken away from Grimes when the toddler was an infant, and that Grimes only recently regained custody of her children.

“There’s no way that her mom should ever be in her life again,” said the uncle. He said the little girl is normally a bright-eyed and bubbly child who has lived most of her life with his family, and that to see her like this incredibly difficult.

“She calls me dad to this day and I feel the same way about her,” he said to Fox 4 News. “How someone could do this is just amazing. There’s not even words for it.”

During an interview with police, Grimes admitted to frustration, and that she does let her frustration get the better of her. Grimes entered a not guilty plea and was given a $150,000 cash bond. Wynn also entered a not guilty plea and was given $100,000 bond.

Fortunately, despite the painful second-degree burns on the toddler’s body given to her at the hands of her mother, the little girl will survive, although with scarring, probably both external and internal. Some children, like the little girl whose father literally used her as a battering ram, aren’t as fortunate.

[Image via KSHB.com]