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PrintFULTON — A Callaway County jury found Otis McKinney guilty today on four charges of child abuse and endangerment for helping his wife, Erma McKinney, put her 6-year-old son in a scalding hot shower as punishment for misbehavior at school.
Otis McKinney did not flinch as the Callaway County jury presented its verdict after nearly three hours of deliberation. The charges will put him in prison for 10 to 67 years.
Erma McKinney was found guilty of the same four charges at a Boone County bench trial last week.
The McKinneys were charged with first-degree assault for putting the boy in a scalding hot shower on May 19, 2005; child abuse for giving the child the same hot shower punishment 10 to 11 times from January to May 19, 2005; first-degree endangerment of child welfare for the May 19 incident; and first-degree endangerment of child welfare for waiting until June 14, 2005, to seek medical treatment for the child.
During closing arguments, the prosecutor and defense attorney discussed the sequence of events that led to the now-7-year-old boy’s injuries.
“We’re not gonna find out whodunit in this case. We’re not gonna find out a scenario,” Richard French, defense attorney, said.
When he spoke again, prosecutor Richard Hicks said the boy “has consistently said whodunit. No amount of spin is going to stop that.”
Otis McKinney will return to Callway County for sentencing by Judge Gene Hamilton on July 17. Erma McKinney will be sentenced in Boone County on the same day.
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