Mom's trial will open in fatal scalding
Jurors will hear opening arguments Monday in the case of a mother accused of burning her son.
Valerie Kennedy, accused of killing her 3-year-old son by putting him into a tub of scalding water on Christmas Day 2005, wasn't supposed to have contact with her children because she had abused them in the past, investigators said.
But Broward County jurors who will consider her first-degree murder case Monday are not likely to learn anything about the court order prohibiting Kennedy from seeing the children.
The judge presiding over the case ruled Wednesday that any mention of that order -- at least for now -- will not be allowed.
Prosecutors allege that Kennedy, 32, dipped 3-year-old Jaquez Mason into scalding water because he had soiled his diaper on Christmas Day in 2005.
He died Jan. 1, 2006, from third-degree burns. Jaquez and four siblings lived with his grandmother, Annie Williams, who had custody. But even though Kennedy was prohibited by court order from being with her children, Williams allowed the kids to visit their mother in Coral Springs for the holiday.
Jaquez's 7-year-old sister told the Broward Sheriff's Office that she 'heard the baby scream, `The water is hot,' '' Detective Ricky Libman said in a deposition.
Kennedy called Williams, who took the boy to her Deerfield Beach home. Williams treated his burns with ointment but did not take him to the hospital, only calling 911 a week after he was burned, investigators said.
Both Kennedy and Williams, 53, are facing charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Williams will be tried separately.
Experts have said the child may have survived the injuries had he received proper medical care.
Libman said in his 2006 deposition that Kennedy failed to respond when he told her about the death.
''She was just -- showed no emotion,'' he said. ``She sort of would hide her face in her shirt.''
Assistant State Attorney Shari Tate said prosecutors are waiving the death penalty and seeking life in prison for both Kennedy and Williams.
Family members said Kennedy had frequent contact with her children even though she was ordered not to. Kennedy's attorney, Young Tindall, declined to discuss the case when reached Thursday by phone. Previously in court, he has argued that Kennedy didn't mean to hurt her son and said there was no evidence that she knew the water was hot. He blamed a faulty water heater for the scalding temperature.
At Wednesday's hearing, Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson told attorneys in the case not to mention the court order banning Kennedy from seeing her kids unless he decides otherwise.
He said the relevance of the information is outweighed by the prejudice it could cause in jurors' minds.
But Levenson said that he would allow jurors to see the photos of Jaquez's injuries.
Prosecutors contend that the patterns of the burns will help the medical examiner explain how the injuries happened, which would establish intent.
The trial is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Monday in Levenson's courtroom.
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