A 33-year-old Federal Way woman, a certified nursing assistant, has been charged with assault after she allegedly poured cleaning powder in to the mouth of a 4-week-old infant she was babysitting.
Charging documents said police were called to an apartment complex on Military Road South on Jan. 10 by a woman who reported her neighbor, Mabinty Williams, “knocked on her door and said there was a baby in her apartment and she didn’t know how it got there.” The neighbor also said Williams called the 4-week-old baby “evil.”
When officers arrived on the scene, Williams allegedly told them she was afraid of the baby.
Inside her apartment, officers found the baby on the couch with its arm pinned down under a large jar and white powder around and in its mouth.
Officers also noticed what appeared to be burns and small amounts of blood on the baby. An empty jar of Totally Awesome Oxygen Based Cleaner was nearby as were several baby bottles.
Police said a combination of salt and cleaning powder had been put on the baby's face and pushed into its mouth.
She "was having problems getting this child to be calm or go to sleep, and how or why she used soap and salt is really a mystery to us," Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock said Wednesday.
Police said the baby was gasping for air and its eyes were red and swollen. Paramedics were called to the scene to treat the infant. The baby was taken to the hospital, where it was treated and released.
Williams told police that she had been babysitting the child for about four hours when it "changed" and the baby's eyes turned blue.
She denied pouring the cleaner in the baby’s mouth and said she had earlier encountered an unknown man standing over the baby in the living room, although she could not describe him or say what he did.
Williams was arrested and charged in King County Court with assault of a child in the second degree. She is being held on $100,000 bail and will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Thursday.
One of Williams' neighbor in Federal Way, Divya Devia, said she can't imagine Williams hurting a child. "She's a really nice woman, we just say hi to each other when we go to work," Devia said.
Williams has no criminal history, but a deputy prosecutor said he believes she may have mental health problems.
