By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
A 3-year-old Mount Pleasant boy didn’t die from the punches to his head, face and mouth; nor the whippings to his legs; nor even the numerous bruises and bed bug bites all over his body.
According to an autopsy done by the Racine County coroner’s office, what killed Hunter Wise was the shock to his system from the trauma of a severe burn to his buttocks, after allegedly being dipped into a scalding hot tub of water by his mother’s boyfriend as punishment for defecating and soiling his pants.
Charged with first-degree intentional homicide is Marcus A. Johnson, 26, of Racine.
According to the criminal complaint filed May 13 in Racine County Circuit Court, Johnson told deputies that he had been caring for the child May 10 and left him alone in a bathtub and the child slipped under the water.
Johnson said he had put the child in the bathtub after the child defecated in his pants. Johnson then stepped out of the room for about 90 seconds to check on two other children, heard a splash and when he returned he saw the child lying in the tub, almost totally submerged.
Johnson said the water might have been a little hot.
He said he called the child’s mother to come home from work, and started administering CPR to the boy.
Emergency technicians drove the child to Wheaton Franciscan Hospital, where he died that morning.
An older child in the home was interviewed. She said Johnson had dropped the victim and “whooped him” and said she heard quite a bit of yelling and whooping by Johnson to the child.
Johnson made an initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court May 13, where probable cause was found that he committed the crime with which he is charged.
A cash bond of $500,000 has been set. He is next scheduled in court May 22 for a preliminary hearing.
-
-
-
-
-