OBION COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A 27-year-old Union City woman has been arrested weeks after investigators say her 14-month-old son died from severe burns caused by scalding hot bath water.

Union City police said the child’s mother, Laureen McArthur was charged with child abuse and negligent homicide.

Officers responded on Nov. 10 to Union City Baptist Memorial Hospital, where a boy was being treated for serious burns. The child was found to have been scalded by bath water over approximately 47% of his body at a home on South Miles Avenue, according to police.

Laureen McArthur
Laureen McArthur (Courtesy: Obion County Sheriff’s Office)

The toddler was transported to the burn unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock for treatment, where police said he passed away from his injuries on Nov. 14.

McArthur was arrested in Cullman, Alabama. She was brought back to Tennessee on Monday and jailed in Obion County.