Mom's boyfriend left 1-year-old boy in scalding bathwater so he could get high, then used ointment to treat burns instead of taking him to the hospital

Inset: Henry Wheatley-Brown (San Bernardino County District Attorney). Background: The 700 block of Santa Barbara Avenue in Sugarloaf, Calif., where Henry died from burns suffered in hot bathwater (Google Maps).

A California mother and her boyfriend are headed to prison after her 1-year-old son died from burns suffered during a blistering hot bath that they treated with an ointment instead of getting him medical attention.

Sergio Mena, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse causing great bodily injury while Samantha Garver, 36, was convicted of manslaughter and child abuse causing great bodily injury. Mena was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison while Garver will spend 14 years behind bars for the death of young Henry Wheatley-Brown, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office said in a press release.

Mena was watching the child on Sept. 30, 2023, at their home in the 700 block of Santa Barbara Avenue in Sugarloaf when he placed him in "scalding" bathwater and left him alone to go get some methamphetamine. Henry began screaming and Mena returned to find the boy "severely burned." Mena called Garver who returned to the home later that evening.

"Despite Henry's extensive and life-threatening injuries, neither defendant sought medical care, instead attempting to treat the burns with over‑the‑counter ointment," prosecutors wrote.

The next day Mena and Garver called 911 saying Henry had "shallow breathing."

"Paramedics found Henry without a pulse, ice‑cold to the touch and severely dehydrated," the press release stated.

An investigation revealed that Henry had second- and third-degree burns on his body and had also suffered ongoing abuse, with multiple healing fractures in both arms and extensive bruising.

Henry and his three older siblings suffered abuse for years, the Los Angeles Times reported. The San Bernardino County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) had multiple interactions with Garver over her treatment of her three older kids.

She reportedly told a doctor she "felt like putting a pillow over" one of the children's faces for excessive crying. She also posed a question on Facebook asking whether "duct taping a child's mouth is abusive," according to DCFS documents obtained by The Times.

The documents show investigators came to contradictory conclusions with one saying the kids were at "high risk" of abuse and neglect while another deemed them "safe."

Family members expressed their concerns to investigators, but to no avail. Garver even dismissed the impacts of child abuse.

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Henry's grandmother, Sierra Rivers, told the Los Angeles Times she recalled Garver saying: "I got abused as a kid and I got hit as a baby, and I turned out fine."

An investigation by child services into Henry's death reportedly determined that "abuse or neglect" was the cause.

"Although nothing can bring back baby Henry or erase the suffering he endured, today's sentences deliver justice and ensure these defendants will never again harm a child," the district attorney's office said in a statement. "The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office will honor Henry's memory by never forgetting him and by continuing to fight for vulnerable children."