Mason woman gets prison term for scalding toddler

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

A Mason woman was sentenced to seven to 10½ years in prison for the 2023 scalding of her granddaughter.

Lashawnda Walters, 51, was sentenced by Warren County Common Pleas Judge Robert Peeler after entering a guilty plea to endangering children, a second-degree felony, and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, according to Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell.

Fornshell said the offenses occurred on March 30, 2023, when the two-year-old female victim was living with Walters, who is her grandmother. That morning, the toddler had an accident and soiled her diaper. In response to the accident, Walters assaulted the girl and placed her in a bath with water temperatures reaching up to 126 degrees Fahrenheit, Fornshell said.

As a result of being forced into the water, the girl suffered second and third degree burns to over 17% of her body, including her feet, calves, thighs, buttocks, and vaginal area, he said.

Fornshell said more than five hours passed before the girl was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital – Liberty Campus, where she was examined and then transported to Shriners Children’s Ohio in Cincinnati, where she ultimately required a surgical skin graft to replace the damaged skin.

Fornshell said inside Walters’ home were surveillance cameras that captured the events leading up to this incident. While the police were executing a search warrant at Walters’ home, Walters was actively deleting videos from earlier in the day in an effort to prevent law enforcement from obtaining video evidence regarding her actions, he said.

“My heart goes out not only to this little girl, but to everyone involved in this case who had to view the photographs of the horrific injuries Walters caused to that precious child,” Fornshell said.

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