New Hampshire Father Accused of Killing 7-Year-Old Son By Disciplining Him With Scalding Hot Water — ‘It’s Absolutely Gruesome’

A New Hampshire father was charged with murder months after the death of his boy, who died from severe burns caused by hot water, officials said.

Murtadah Mohammad, 25, was charged on July 3 with one count of second-degree murder for the death of his 7-year-old son, Jaevion, Attorney General John M. Formella and Manchester Police Chief Allen D. Aldenberg announced.

On Jan. 17, police in Manchester responded to an apartment after receiving a call about the child and found him unresponsive with burns to his face and body, NBC Boston reported.

“It is absolutely gruesome, it is horrific, and it is sickening to look at. It makes me physically ill looking at my own son because of what this man did to him,” the child’s mother, Rainah Riley, told the station after her son was transported to an area hospital.

“It looks as if it's from boiling water or oil, or just straight, just, maybe set on fire,” Riley said. “His tooth was kicked out, he has blunt force trauma to the head. This man was trying to kill my child.”

Mohammad, who reportedly told first responders his son was injured while taking a shower despite allegedly a lack of water in the shower to back up his claim, was initially arrested on multiple charges, including assault, on Jan. 19, police said.

J.R. died from his injuries on Jan. 24.

According to the officials, Mohammad's charges were amended to include the murder of his son for “recklessly under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of his life ... subjecting him to abusive violence and not obtaining timely medical assistance for his injuries.”

Riley said in January that Mohammad had recently been granted joint custody of their boy. “I called for wellness checks on him when he was with him, for the bruising, and nobody did anything,” she claimed to NBC Boston.

She added: “The system has failed not only my child, but so many children. And something needs to be done, because this isn't OK. It's not. Like, when is enough enough?”