Mom Who Scalded Kid In 140-Degree Bath Finds Out That Water Is ‘Weapon’

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/11/2025) Is water a weapon under Michigan’s sentencing guidelines?

A split Court of Appeals panel said yes as it affirmed the prison sentence imposed against Breanna Lynn Coger, who pleaded no contest in 2023 to second-degree child abuse for severely burning her 13-month-old son’s lower body in scalding water during a bath.

“In this case, there can be no real debate that the manner in which the water was used harmed the victim,” wrote Appeals Judge Adrienne N. Young in her dissenting opinion.

“That the victim was left alone and could have drowned, in addition to the fact that there were third-degree burns on 35 percent of his body, should indicate water can be used as a dangerous weapon,” she noted. “The more difficult question is whether water can be article, instrument or device.”

Young held that the Legislature didn’t contemplate water or other liquids as a weapon under the statute, noting that it took “great care” in identifying a liquid or chemical substance as a “device” when it is “flammable in nature.”

Coger, a single mom, placed her son, identified as QC in court documents, in a bath Oct. 31, 2021, after the toddler, who had been sick with a respiratory infection and had diarrhea, had feces on his body.

Coger then left the bathroom while the water was running so she could prepare herself to go shopping. Coger testified that when she returned to the bathroom, her son, who was “crying excessively,” had left the bathtub and when she went to unwrap what she thought was toilet paper from his feet and ankles, learned that it was his skin.

A doctor testified that QC suffered third-degree burns on his feet and ankles, and that he had second-degree burns on the back of his legs, his genitalia and his hands. The doctor testified the burns were consistent with burns from water temperature of at least 140-degrees.

Coger was charged in June 2022 with first-degree child abuse, but she pleaded no contest to the lesser offense of second-degree. She was subsequently sentenced to the top of the minimum guidelines range to a term of 30 months to 10 years in prison.

On appeal, Coger argued that water is not a weapon and as such, her sentencing guidelines should be lower, but the appeals panel disagreed, noting that it is proper to score points for the “aggravated use of a weapon.”

The majority’s per curiam opinion from Judges Philip P. Mariani and Allie Greenleaf Maldonado notes that the statute doesn’t define weapon, but state statute, MCL 777.31, and case law leads them to conclude that the “use of scalding water to harm the victim in this case was sufficient” to show it as a weapon.

Coger also argued on appeal that there was no evidence to show she placed her son in the hot water for selfish reasons or for manipulation, but the majority disagreed.

“The facts established that Coger placed the victim in scalding water to give herself an outlet for her frustrations and a break from her caretaking responsibilities,” the majority said. “Those goals were only attainable because of the youth and size of the victim. … Thus, the record reflects that Coger exploited a vulnerable victim … with the goal of ‘accomplishing something selfish or unethical.’”

If Young’s interpretation had prevailed, Coger’s minimum sentencing guidelines could have changed to 12 to 24 months.