Riverside Family Sues Nurse After Traces Of Chemical Found On Shirt Of Burned Child

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — A Riverside family is suing a nurse and a home-health agency after a young special-needs boy was severely burned while under care.

Adam Bautista, 4, was born with an undeveloped brain, and requires constant medical care as he remains in a largely vegetative state.

In March, Bautista's parents were told by a nurse that she had accidentally sprayed him with hot water while bathing him. Adam suffered blistered skin, covering his chest, as a result of the burns.

"It was just really stressful seeing him in that condition and knowing that he was hurting, and I couldn't do anything for him," Adam's mother said.

However, it was the results of a forensic analyst test of Adam's shirt that the boy's parents say left them absolutely shocked.

The forensic analyst, tasked with investigating the boy's shirt by attorney Mark Peacock. He says he discovered the presence of vomit on the front of the shirt, and traces of skin on the inside of the shirt, along with evidence of sodium hydroxide.

Peacock says the chemical was a red flag to him, as it is commonly used in making methamphetamine. The nurse, who lives in Yucaipa, had been arrested 20 years ago for manufacturing methamphetamine.

"There's some evidence that there's something sinister going on, so we want to find out exactly what that is," Peacock said.

The nurse, meanwhile, maintains that the burning was an accident, and that she would never have intentionally harmed the child.