Overview
- Police found a 22-month-old boy unresponsive in a Mesa home and he was later pronounced dead at a hospital on April 12.
- Court records and investigators say the child suffered severe liquid scald burns over a large portion of his body and then developed sepsis that caused a slow, painful decline.
- Detectives allege the boy was under the sole care of 21-year-old Alexsander Byrne when he was burned and that caregivers concealed the injuries from the child's biological father.
- Search warrants on phones and social accounts showed queries about burns and treatment, and a recorded post-Miranda interview quoted Byrne saying he withheld medical care because he feared Department of Child Safety involvement.
- Artnesia Baptist and Alexsander Byrne were arrested on May 26 and booked on counts of first-degree murder and child abuse; both are held on $1 million cash-only bonds as the case moves through prosecution.