Jury selection ends, testimony begins for mother of scalded Dewey toddler

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Jury selection ended and testimony began Monday afternoon for the trial of a Dewey woman charged with child neglect for the severe scalding of her 16-month-old in January.

Dewey police arrested 24-year-old Danielle Lynn Conner following an investigation that began on Jan. 30 when the Wichita Police Department contacted them about a toddler whose burns appeared suspicious nature, according to the affidavit.

A detective told police Conner's alleged story the burns resulted from a spilled pot of boiling water did not match the injuries as the injuries appeared to be submersion burns.

Reportedly, when Dewey investigators spoke with Conner and confronted her with the evidence, she reportedly told them she had placed the girl in a bathtub with a 3-year-old child in water that “was not hot.”

Conner said she left the children for 10 minutes when she heard crying at which time the 3-year-old found her and tried to tell her something she said she could not understand. She said she thought it was about argument over a toy.

She told investigators when she came back to the bathroom and noticed the hot water was on and the younger girl was screaming, she immediately lifted the child from the water and “the skin fell off (the 16-month-old's) legs.”

It was following this Jan. 31 interview police arrested her and the 3-year-old was taken into Department of Human Services custody.

Conner, held at the Washington County jail on $50,000, is being represented by Mark Kane.

The only witness called to the stand Monday was a doctor from Jane Phillips Medical Center's emergency room.

Testimony will continue Tuesday.