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‘I left him for 5 minutes’: Mother not charged after 1-year-old left alone in bathtub dies

MATHEWS COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) – A 1-year-old boy died at the hospital on Thursday after authorities say he was left alone in a bathtub in Mathews County.

At 12:20 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, a 911 call went to Gloucester County authorities. According to court paperwork, an unresponsive one year old had been scalded in the bathtub at a home on John Clayton Memorial Highway, and when the mother returned the child’s head was reportedly face down in the water.

The child was taken to Riverside Walter Reed Hospital, and died shortly after arriving.

On Friday, WISH-TV’s sister station WAVY visited the mobile home, where the mother lived with two children.

“I wish people would leave me alone. I wish people were considerate and not in my face right now. I left him for five minutes,” the child’s mother said. “You know what, get out of my face.”

She has not been charged.

Mathews County Social Services has been contacted and are working to investigate the case, alongside the Sheriff’s Office.

The Office of Richmond’s Chief Medical Examiner will be performing an autopsy.

“She left a child in the bathtub in scaling hot water; I can’t imagine; it is hard to fathom that,” said neighbor Patricia Griffin.