A Cottonwood woman accused of nearly beating to death her boyfriend's 7-year-old son told Shasta County sheriff's detectives that
she was seeking revenge against the child's biological mother.
A sheriff's investigative report, which was made public Tuesday, describes the horrific injuries Rachel Limon allegedly inflicted upon the boy, known as Junior, including possibly
burning his nipples and breaking six ribs. The child also suffered a
collapsed lung, the sheriff's report said.
Furthermore, it reveals that Limon, 27, admitted to detectives to causing at least some of those injuries.
"Rachel admitted to
punching the victim over the course of approximately a week for various reasons," the sheriff's report says. "The main reason for the abuse was out of revenge due to problems between Rachel and (Melissa) Radford."
Radford, 27, is the boy's biological mother. She was arrested Saturday in Sacramento on two Redding Police Department warrants unrelated to the alleged beating.
The sheriff's report said that Limon, too, has a child with the boy's biological father, Javier Ibarra Lopez, 29, which is a source of tension.
But Limon denied ever having burned the child, although she did admit to
digging her fingers into his chest, punching him, tossing him out the back door onto the deck with a 1-foot drop-off and
grabbing him on his face and neck.
"Rachel admitted she knew what she did was wrong" and kept him out of school due to his visible injuries, the report said. She also said that she failed to seek medical help for him, it added.
It's believed
the boy would have died within 24 hours without medical treatment, the report said.
According to the sheriff's report, the boy was found Friday inside Limon's Rhonda Road residence
on a pullout mattress without sheets or blankets and with only about 12 inches exposed on which to sleep.
The boy, who was
in severe pain and could barely move, had numerous abrasions and bruises on his face, torso and legs and had difficulty breathing, the report said.
It also said that he suffered
extensive bruising to his genitals and pelvic area.
When asked who had hurt him, the boy said, "I did it to myself," the sheriff's report said.
[...]
"He's not completely out of the woods yet, but I understand that he is expected to recover," Hanna said.
He also confirmed that the boy's mother was arrested Saturday in Sacramento after she apparently tried to visit her son at the hospital.
Those warrants charge her with violating probation and failing to appear in Shasta County Superior Court, according to inmate information provided by a Sacramento County Jail Web site.
Electronic Superior Court records show that bench warrants had been issued for Radford after she repeatedly failed to appear in court on drug and other charges.
[...]
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