Investigators say the child’s caregivers hid the injuries and used home remedies while his condition worsened.
MESA, Ariz. — A 22-month-old boy’s untreated burn injuries became the focus of a murder case after police said his mother and her boyfriend concealed the wounds for days before his April 12 death.
The charges against Artnesia Aaliyah Baptist, 24, and Alexsander Byrne, 21, center on a delay that investigators say turned a severe burn injury into a fatal infection. Police say the Mesa couple failed to seek medical care, misled relatives and hid the injuries from the child’s biological father.
The case began for first responders as a child-not-breathing call. Just after 9 a.m. April 12, officers went to a home near Mesa Drive and McKellips Road. Mesa Fire and Medical crews took the toddler to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. What police found on the child’s body led detectives away from a sudden medical emergency and toward a longer timeline. The boy had injuries consistent with severe burns, officials said. Court paperwork later alleged those burns were not new. Investigators said they had been present for days and were severe enough that the child’s skin was missing or infected in multiple areas when he arrived at the emergency room.
Detectives fixed the alleged injury date at April 3. They said the burns were consistent with a hot liquid poured over the child’s head, then running down his body by gravity. The affidavit described burns down the boy’s neck, shoulders, chest, back and hips, with blistering and loosened skin. Police said about 40% of the boy’s body was burned. Byrne allegedly admitted seeing “big chunks” of skin peeling during a diaper change. The couple denied knowing what caused the burns, according to police, but detectives said the injury occurred while the child was in the care of Baptist and Byrne. The distinction between the alleged burn event and the days that followed is expected to be a major issue in court.
Investigators said Baptist and Byrne did not call a doctor, take the child to urgent care or summon emergency help until the morning he was not breathing. Instead, court records say they used burn cream, Tylenol and aloe vera. Byrne allegedly said the child developed a fever, vomited and became unable to walk. Police also said internet records showed searches about burn severity, including “can 2nd degree burns kill you,” “first degree burns” and searches about burn cream. Those searches, combined with statements to police, are likely to be used by prosecutors to show the defendants knew the injuries were serious before the fatal emergency call.
The police narrative also includes the people who were kept away from the injury. Court paperwork says the couple hid the burns from the child’s biological father. Investigators allege they threatened to kill him if he came to pick up the boy after the burns occurred. Byrne’s parents were also given a different explanation, police said. The couple allegedly told them the toddler had a cold. When Byrne’s mother offered to take the child to urgent care, investigators said, Baptist and Byrne told her the boy was getting better. Police have not said in the available reports that relatives saw the full extent of the burns before the child died.
Byrne’s alleged explanation to police placed child welfare fears at the center of the delay. After his arrest, investigators said, he gave a recorded post-Miranda interview and admitted the child was intentionally kept from medical treatment because he believed Child Protective Services would become involved. Court paperwork said Byrne admitted he knew the decision was wrong and illegal, caused more injury and pain, and caused the child’s death. ABC15 reported that court documents said the couple feared the Arizona Department of Child Safety would take other children from the home. Those alleged statements became part of the probable cause used to support the murder and child abuse charges.
The medical examiner’s findings, as described in court records, give prosecutors a second path in the case. The affidavit said the boy died from severe infection and sepsis. It said the infection had continued to spread and that the medical examiner described the child’s decline as slow and painful, lasting at least 48 hours before death. The court record also described a strong odor of infected skin in the emergency room. Police said skin was missing, red and infected from areas including the shoulders, sternum, scalp line, back of the neck, back, buttocks and hips. Those details are allegations from the investigation and have not yet been tested at trial.
The child welfare record adds context but does not replace the criminal allegations. DCS told ABC15 that Baptist had two prior reports within the previous year. A May 2025 report alleged abuse of another child and was unsubstantiated. A September report alleged neglect tied to a domestic violence incident between Baptist and the toddler’s biological father. DCS said that report also was not supported by evidence after investigation with law enforcement. The agency said it assessed the toddler as safe after Baptist moved out with the boy and his siblings. A later fatality summary said a dependency petition was filed after the death and the siblings were placed with an unlicensed caregiver.
Police arrested Baptist and Byrne on May 26, more than six weeks after the child died. Local reports said they faced first-degree murder and child abuse likely to cause death. A state fatality summary said they were indicted May 29 on one count of first-degree murder and one count of child abuse. Both were being held on $1 million cash-only bonds, according to court records cited in news reports. Their case is now in Maricopa County Superior Court. The defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted, and no public trial date was listed in the available reports reviewed for this story.
The next phase is expected to focus on evidence from search warrants, medical examiner findings and interviews with the defendants and relatives. Prosecutors will have to show what happened to the child, when it happened and how the decision not to seek care led to death. Defense filings could challenge the burn timeline, intent, the meaning of the digital searches or the weight of Byrne’s alleged statements.
Currently, the public record shows an indictment, a dependency case involving the child’s siblings and two defendants jailed on high cash-only bonds. The next major milestone will come in court as the murder case moves toward pretrial hearings.
Author note: Last updated June 23, 2026.