Germantown mother sentenced to 25 years in prison for setting her son on fire
GERMANTOWN, Md. (DC News Now) — A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge sentenced a Germantown woman on Friday after she lit her 8-year-old son on fire in May of 2020.
In a news release that the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) released Monday, officials said that 31-year-old Kimberly Tyler was convicted in December on charges including first-degree child abuse and conspiracy to commit neglect of a minor.
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Officials said that Kimberly Tyler got “upset” with her son after he made a mess while eating cereal at their apartment in the 12000 block of Falling Water Cir. in Germantown. As “an act of punishment,” she poured rubbing alcohol onto the 8-year-old boy’s hand and lit it on fire in the kitchen.
Officials said that the fire “spread out of control” and engulfed the boy in flames. He had first, second and third-degree burns across his face and upper body. Officials said that around 25% of his body in total was burned.
The statement said that Kimberly Tyler’s wife — Chareese Snorgrass-Tyler — and younger sister were present at the time. Kimberly Tyler and her wife had five other children who were all younger than the boy she burned. Those children were in the bedroom at the time of the incident.
Prosecutors said that Kimberly Tyler and Snorgrass-Tyler threw the boy into the shower.
“[Kimberly Tyler’s] sister told her ‘you shouldn’t do that’ and [Kimberly Tyler] responded that everyone is always worried about the victim and that ‘nobody gives an f about me,'” the SAO release said.
Officials said that instead of calling 911 or getting her son medical help, Kimberly Tyler called her parents to help. None of them got medical attention — instead, Kimberly Tyler and her father, Kimball Tyler, went to get him gauze and burn cream.
Officials said that the group agreed, based on Kimberly Tyler’s wishes, that the boy would stay with his grandparents, who would try to give him care on their own instead of taking him to a hospital.
“During that time, Kimball [Tyler] would frequently video call [Kimberly Tyler] and Chareese [Snorgrass-Tyler] and show the victim’s condition and urge that he needed medical attention. [Kimberly Tyler] would ignore these requests. In these video calls, the victim appeared heavily bandaged and in debilitating pain, grimacing as he struggled to stand up on his own,” the SAO’s statement said.
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While the victim was being cared for by Kimball and Lisa, this Defendant continued to live her life as if nothing was wrong. She would have people over at her house and would be smoking and drinking. The Defendant wanted the victim out of sight and out of mind. When people would inquire of the Defendant where the victim was, she would simply tell them that he was visiting his grandparents. During the two weeks the victim was at Kimball and Lisa’s apartment, the Defendant went to visit him one time. Despite further pleas that the victim needed medical attention, the Defendant said “in this situation nobody has to deal with it but her and her son and they all need to stay out of her business.” The Defendant admitted to her younger sister that she had poured alcohol on the victim and lit him on fire based on a trend she had seen going around on YouTube.
Portion of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office release
The SAO said that Kimball Tyler brought the boy back home and said that he needed proper medical attention. Prosecutors said that for a couple of days, he stayed with Kimberly Tyler and Snorgrass-Tyler but did not get any medical care. Instead, the couple kept calling Kimball Tyler “and telling him he had to come back and get the victim because they did not have the time or capacity to care for him themselves.”
On May 30, Kimball Tyler picked the boy up and drove him to Children’s National Medical Center. Prosecutors said that Kimberly Tyler “became angry” when she learned that her son was at the hospital.
“When the victim arrived at Children’s he was screaming and crying in pain. His wounds were infected and there was puss dripping off of them. His wounds smelled so foul, that an infectious disease team was brought in to assess them. He had multiple contractures on his next and upper extremities where the scars were so thick and shrunken up that it limited his joint mobility,” the statement said.
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Hospital staff suspected abuse and reported it to the Montgomery County Department of Police, which started an investigation. Kimberly Tyler told officers that she had been frying chicken and left it unattended when her son spilled hot grease on himself.
“The Defendant went so far as to draw a picture for the police to show how small the kitchen is and how this could be plausible,” the statement said.
Since he was admitted to the hospital, the boy has gone through around 20 surgeries and “will likely remain scarred for the rest of his life.” He contracted Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) while at Children’s National Medical Center due to the length of his stay and had to undergo “extremely painful” dressing changes.
Kimberly Tyler was sentenced to 30 years in prison suspended all but 25 years, with five years of supervised probation after release.
Snorgrass-Tyler pleaded guilty to neglect of a minor and was sentenced to serve six months in prison with five years of supervised probation.
Kimball Tyler testified against Kimberly Tyler during court proceedings and pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to probation before judgment.
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