DAD PLEADS GUILTY IN BOY'S DEATH

Author: Jeb Phillips

Gary A. Thompson put his 2-year-old adopted son into a 140-degree bath and then held him there while the child struggled.

"Liam was crying and screaming hysterically," Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Hawkins said. "The defendant continued to force the child into the water."

Thompson finally pulled Liam out. When the boy began acting up -- his skin was peeling off from the burns -- his father put him on a mattress surrounded by a barricade of old furniture and boxes in the basement of their Far West Side home.

Thompson left him there for five days. Liam died on Oct. 16, his third birthday.

Yesterday, Thompson pleaded guilty to murder, crying as he said, "I don't want my daughter to have to testify. She's only 15."

A question remains: Why did Thompson, 32, scald a boy he had recently adopted from Russia? His attorney, Ronald Janes, said photos of the burned child and a diary kept by Thompson's wife, Amy L. Thompson, would provide the answer.

"The pieces will all come together when you see the diary," he said.

Mrs. Thompson is charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangering in Liam's death. Her trial is set for Feb. 11. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien confirmed the diary was a key piece of evidence but would not discuss it because of the pending trial.

The Thompsons' other children -- a 3-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter, both biological, and a 3-year-old girl, also adopted in Russia -- are in the custody of Franklin County Children Services.

The Thompsons called 911 when Liam became unresponsive five days after the scalding. When medics arrived at 1772 Navion Court, they found petroleum jelly had been applied to his first- and second-degree burns.

"Doctors said that had he been treated right away, he would have survived the injuries," Hawkins said in court.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Dale A. Crawford gave Mr. Thompson a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in prison, plus a $15,000 fine. Janes said Mr. Thompson was in debt from the adoption and legal proceedings, and couldn't pay.

Crawford said he would allow an investigation and a hearing on Mr. Thompson's financial abilities.

jeb.phillips@dispatch.com