A 31-year-old Michigan woman is accused of pouring boiling water on a 15-year-old girl during a parking lot brawl, leaving the teenager with severe third-degree burns to her neck and most of her back.
Shanell Lakeisha Cohen was taken into custody this week and charged with one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder or by strangulation, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to Leonard Lane around 7 p.m. on Sept. 28 after multiple reports of a large group fighting. When first responders arrived, they estimated that between 50 and 100 people had gathered in a parking lot.
Investigators said Cohen and the teenage victim first got into a verbal argument that soon escalated into a physical fight. “After that altercation ended, investigators determined Cohen went inside her residence and removed a pot of boiling water from the stove,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
“Cohen then returned outside, where the teenager was involved in a separate physical altercation with other individuals. Detectives determined Cohen approached the teenager during that altercation and poured the pot of hot water onto her back.”
The teenager suffered “extensive burns” and was taken by ambulance to McLaren Oakland Hospital. Because of the severity of her injuries, she was later transferred to Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. She remained hospitalized with “third-degree burns to her neck and the majority of her back,” the release states.
On Oct. 1, Cohen went to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Pontiac Substation for an interview with detectives. According to the sheriff’s office, she admitted during the interview to pouring the boiling water on the teen.
Following her alleged admission, Cohen was arrested and booked into the Oakland County Jail. She appeared in court for her arraignment on Thursday, when a judge ordered her held on a $75,000 cash-or-surety bond, with a 10% provision, records show. She is due back in court for a probable cause conference on the afternoon of Oct. 13.
“We have another sad example of a verbal dispute, escalating into dangerous physical violence,” Sheriff Mike Bouchard said in a statement. “Individuals who do so will be held to account.” If convicted, Cohen faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in a state prison.