COLDWATER (WTVB) - Branch County authorities say a man and a woman are facing felony child abuse charges in connection with an incident this spring that nearly killed a 3-year old boy. Twenty-six-year old Stephanie Marie Vanlandingham and 25-year old Michael Douglas Brown, who used to live in Ovid Township, were arrested Wednesday by Michigan State Police.
The two suspects were caring for two children of another couple when the boy suffered severe second degree burns to his legs and buttocks, apparently from exposure to an unspecified chemical agent. Investigators say Brown and Vanlandingham didn’t take the child to the hospital that day but instead went to a relative’s home in Hillsdale County where the next day, the boy took a six foot fall from a patio.
When para-medics arrived, the child was unresponsive. After being revived, he was taken to the Hillsdale Health Center and later transferred to a Toledo hospital. The boy is recovering. The suspects face second degree child abuse charges in Branch County and are also expected to be charged by Hillsdale County authorities.
