Derrick Defoe

The trial for an Athens man accused of intentionally scalding his girlfriend’s children in a bathtub in 2015 will begin Monday, March 25, in Limestone County.

Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones told The News Courier the trial for Derrick Lynn Defoe, 33, of 19235 Easter Ferry Road, is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. before Circuit Judge Chadwick Wise. The trial is expected to last the week.

Defoe is charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree domestic violence and two counts of aggravated child abuse, all felonies. He is accused of helping Amanda Reyer place the two children in hot water as punishment for messing up a made bed. Reyer, who claimed at her trial the water was much hotter than intended, was recently sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated child abuse and being sentenced to consecutive 20-year terms.

Defoe remains in the Limestone County Jail with bail set at $170,000.

Scalding testimony

Reyer testified at her trial she agreed to “dip” her two children in the hot bath because she was “trying to appease” Defoe by using an alternate punishment after her children — a 5-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl — were caught messing up the bed. She said she feared whatever punishment he would come up with, so she tried to recreate something she’d seen on television, intending only to turn the children’s skin pink.

Investigators found the water heater was set at 150 degrees on the night of the incident, hot enough to cause severe burns on both of the children.

Reyer’s son was taken to Children’s of Alabama for treatment. The 2-year-old girl was taken to Children’s before being taken to Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati, a burn specialist. She had burns on 70-80 percent of her body. Due to intensive scarring, she will have to undergo regular surgery until she is an adult to loosen skin and accommodate her growth.

The child, now in the custody of her paternal grandmother, can walk again and is attending school.