Toddler suffers serious burns, dies

DENVER - A Denver man says it appears his grandson died from severe burns.

Now, police are trying to determine whether those burns were accidental or intentional.

Earl Lampley told 7NEWS that he saw a serious burn on 23-month old Javion Johnson's inner thighwhen he changed his grandson's diaper on July 4th. He said the burn appeared to be about threeinches in diameter.

Lampley said he asked his daughter, Candice, about the injury.

"I was like, why didn't you take him to the hospital," he said.

Lampley said one of the other children told him the boy got burned on a heater.

"Another person said it was coffee," the grandfather said. "I don' know what the hell it was."

Lampley said the burn was so bad, he thought about taking the boy to see a doctor himself. "But Iknow she would have got mad, so I didn't," he added, referring to his daughter.

He said he regrets not doing more.

"I thought they would handle it," he said. "I didn't do what I was supposed to do, now he ain't here."

Police said they received a call at 8:35 Wednesday morning saying that a boy had suffered serious

injuries and was at a local hospital. When officers arrived at Saint Joseph Hospital, the boy wasalready dead.

"Right now, we're investigating to see what occurred and to make sure that everyone else involved isokay," said Denver Police Department spokeswoman Christine Downs.

Downs said police were initially looking for a white, 2003 Nissan sedan, with Colorado license platenumber "155-QIQ," in connection with the case.

"That's the car that dropped the child off at the hospital," she said.

Lampley told 7NEWS the car belongs to the brother of his daughter's boyfriend.

Police located the car late Wednesday morning and found Javion's siblings.

A Denver police tweet said the kids are okay.

Lampley said he spoke with investigators Wednesday afternoon and was told that his daughter andher boyfriend's brother were both being questioned.

He said police are still looking for his daughter's boyfriend, Delonta Crank, to question him.

Neighbors say Crank didn't harm the child.

"That man loves those kids," said Shaqua Yarber. "We just saw that baby last night and he was fine,walking and playing."

When asked if anyone knew what happened, Adrienne Thomas said, "No, we're just as puzzled asya'll are."

Lampley asked, "If (Crank) has nothing to hide, where is he?"

The grandfather told 7NEWS that police asked him several questions about the burn mark he saw onJuly 4th.

"Then they showed me some pictures of the (the most recent) burns," he said, breaking down intotears.

He said those pictures showed horrible burns and missing skin on the toddler's backside, groin andlegs.

'The burn spot I saw on his inner thigh was now clear down to his knee," Lampley said.

"He was a playful little boy," he said, reminiscing about his grandson. "He just started walking."

The grandfather said he took the boy to Kings Island, Ohio to see his own mother after she'd beenrobbed at a Walmart store.

He said a kind woman in Sidney, Nebraska helped fund that trip.

"Now," he said, "we have to come up with the money to bury my grandson."

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