Stepmother who bathed 4-year-old in scalding hot water is ‘pure evil’: grandmother

Ohio prosecutor David Fornshell says a woman placed her stepson in scalding hot water and let him bleed to death because she was resentful of caring for “a child that wasn’t hers.”

Anna Richie, 25, is facing new charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and assault in addition to charges of endangering children.

Four-year-old Austin Cooper of Warren County, Ohio was pronounced dead on March 16 after his father, Robert, woke to find his son “as stiff as a board,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reported last month.

WATCH: ‘I think my son died’: 4-year-old dies after stepmom puts his legs in hot water as punishment 

1:25 4-year-old dies in hospital after being put in hot water as punishment

The cause of death was found to be second- and third-degree burns on his leg, inflicted when his stepmother punished Austin by putting his legs into hot water, said Warren County Coroner’s Chief Investigator Doyle Burke.

The murder charges could land Anna in jail for 15 years.

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Sheri Gredig, the boy’s grandmother, told the local TV news station, WCPO-TV, that Ritchie deserves at least a life term.

“Anna Ritchie is pure evil,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Anna Ritchie is pure evil," she said.

Along with the new charges, new details are coming out about the case.

The water was around 56 C, when Anna allegedly kept the boy in the bath for up to 25 minutes, Fornshell said.

“Half of his body was substantially burned to the point that the skin’s hanging on the body,” Fornshell told reporters on Monday.

He was also bleeding significantly, according to the prosecutor.

Instead of seeking medical help, she put the boy into pajamas and put him to bed.

He was found 17 hours later by his father, who was at work at the time of the incident.

“Just to be in that tub for a minute or two would have to be the most excruciating pain,” Fornshell said. “As a father, it makes you angry that somebody can do that to a child.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Just to be in that tub for a minute or two would have to be the most excruciating pain," Fornshell said. "As a father, it makes you angry that somebody can do that to a child."

One of Ritchie’s attorneys, Seth Cantwell, declined to comment on the case.

She will be arraigned on the new charges Wednesday.

With files from Associated Press.