Three-year-old boy suffers third-degree burns

A 29-year-old Kinston man is in Lenoir County Jail charged with abusing a 3-year-old boy.

Edward Lewis Warren, 2211 Beechnut Drive, is being held on a $15,000 bond. Police say Warren burned his girlfriend's foster child with scalding water, resulting in third-degree burns to the child's back, legs and buttocks.

The foster mother found the injured child when she returned from work to her Mitchell Wooten Courts apartment, Kinston Public Safety Department Cmdr. Greg Thompson said. She immediately took the child to the emergency room at Lenoir Memorial Hospital. The boy was flown by EastCare to Chapel Hill Burn Center where he is listed in serious condition.

"He'll be in the hospital for a considerable amount of time," Thompson said.

Police describe the foster mother as "cooperative." The boy was placed in the woman's care several months ago by the Department of Social Services. The department asked police to help with the investigation, Thompson said.

Warren was babysitting with the boy at the time of the injuries. He works at MasterBrand Cabinets.