MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – A man accused of burning his girlfriend's 5-month-old son so badly that part of the child's left leg had to be amputated has pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge in central Ohio.
Twenty-year-old Zachariah Keen, of Mount Vernon, entered the plea Tuesday in Knox County court, avoiding a scheduled trial. Two child endangering charges were dismissed.
He'll be sentenced next month. A message left with his attorney wasn't immediately retured.
Prosecutors have said Keen told police he tripped and spilled a baby bottle of hot water while baby-sitting in mid-January, but authorities didn't believe the second- and third-degree burns were accidental.
Keen was accused of knowingly hurting and failing to seek appropriate medical help for the child, who also needed skin grafts on one arm.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
