LAS CRUCES — A Las Cruces couple has been charged with child abuse after the woman's 10-month-old baby was allegedly burned by a vehicle's cigarette lighter.
The baby's mother, Crystal Mejia, 24, of the 1500 block of West Picacho Avenue, has been charged with one count of negligently permitting child abuse, and her boyfriend, Jeremy Garcia, 19, of the 1100 block of Tamony Lane, has been charged with two third-degree counts of intentional child abuse.
The baby's father noticed burn marks — which looked like they came from an automobile cigarette lighter — on her upper left arm, lower lip and buttocks and insisted she be taken to the hospital, according to sheriff's investigator Bo Nevarez. The injuries occurred over a three-day period, Nevarez said.
The couple was arrested Friday and booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center, where they were each being held under a $10,000 surety bond.