She is said to have dipped the child in hot water22 years innocent in prison! Ex-babysitter acquitted after boy's death

March 12, 2026 around 14:23 Clock

Carmen Mejía was imprisoned in 2003

After 22 years in prison, a woman who was wrongly convicted of killing a baby has been released in the United States. A judge in Texas acquitted the now 52-year-old on Wednesday (local time). “No money in the world can ever compensate you for the loss of the best years of your life. I wish I had that power. But what I can tell you is that there is reason for hope and that your future will get better every day from now on, and I pray that it does,” the judge said after acquitting Carmen Mejía, according to NBC News.

Carmen Mejía told journalists in front of the prison after her release that she believed she would die in prison.

The little boy was ten months old

The Honduran woman was accused of dipping a 10-month-old boy in hot water as a babysitter. The child died in hospital in July 2003 due to burns. A doctor and an expert said at the time that the burns were intentionally inflicted on the baby. Mejía's little daughter was at home with her mother at the time, running the bath water.

The judiciary had already declared the woman innocent in January. The responsible court said she was wrongly convicted in 2005 due to incorrect witness statements and incomplete evidence. The lawyer for the person originally sentenced to life imprisonment was able to prove that it was a household accident caused by the water heater. The water that was put into the child's bath heated to over 60 degrees within seconds.