Twelve-year-old Matthew Brent Richmond died Monday, the day his mother and her boyfriend were indicted for allegedly submersing him in a tub of scalding water.
The developmentally disabled boy had suffered third-degree burns over most of his body in the Jan. 1 incident.
Because Matthew died after grand jurors already had heard evidence, Sharon Richmond and Richard Joseph Klein were not charged with any type of homicide.
Ms. Richmond, of Westwood, is facing one count of child endangering for waiting 13 hours to seek help for her son.
''The child was removed from the bathtub in hideous condition,'' Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said. ''The mother had a duty to seek care for him, and she didn't because she was protecting (her boyfriend).''
Mr. Klein, who allegedly held Matthew under 140-degree wa-ter to punish him for soiling his pants, was charged with felonious assault and child endangering.
Those charges likely will change today, when grand jurors consider more serious charges against the 34-year-old Westwood man, who contends the fatal burns occurred when Matthew began playing with the faucets in the tub.
Even if grand jurors think manslaughter or murder charges are appropriate they will not be enough to satisfy Mr. Deters.
''Richard Klein and people like him should be facing the most severe penalty we can give them,'' Mr. Deters said.
Mr. Klein cannot be charged with a death penalty offense, though, because there were no aggravating circumstances - such as rape, aggravated robbery or kidnapping - surrounding Matthew's death.
''I think it's a very sad day for this city,'' a visibly upset Mr. Deters said. ''A kid walks into a King Kwik and shoots somebody, and he's in the electric chair. But you have someone who tortures and abuses a baby and you can't seek the death penalty.''
The case - and its accompanying frustration - has renewed Mr. Deters' quest to amend state law to make the age of the victim an aggravating circumstance. A similar push in 1994 by Mr. Deters and Gov. George Voinovich died in the legislature.
Mr. Deters is proposing that anyone who kills a child under age 13 be eligible for the death penalty. Similar provisions are in place in at least 13 of the 38 states that use the death penalty, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
''The governor continues to support the death penalty specification for people who kill children,'' said Mike Dawson, spokesman for Gov. Voinovich.
On Monday, Mr. Deters sent letters promoting such legislation to the governor, House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson and Senate President Richard Finan.
''Those responsible did not seek treatment for this child, and death resulted,'' Mr. Deters wrote to Mr. Finan. ''The conscious decision to avoid seeking medical intervention was made easier by the fact that this horrible crime is not a capital offense.''
By waiting 13 hours to summon medical help for Matthew, Ms. Richmond and Mr. Klein aggravated the boy's condition and likely sealed his fate, Mr. Deters said.
''Had he received immediate care, his condition would not have been as bad as it was when he arrived at the hospital,'' Mr. Deters said.
Doctors have told him, though, that Matthew likely would have died regardless.
LAURA PULFER COLUMN
