A one year old girl is in critical condition, after a meth lab in her parents’ home exploded in Bay County, Florida, on Sunday. One-year-old, Johna Osborn, received 2nd degree burns on 41% of her body, which will likely scar her for life – if she survives. Another baby, who was also in the home, was unhurt.
The Bay County Sheriff’s office says that when they arrived at the home, the girl’s mother explained that the girl got burned when she tripped while carrying the hot grease that started the fire. An investigation of the incident however, revealed that the fire was actually caused by a meth lab explosion, in the family’s home on Mylisa Road in Southport. Investigators believe that the girl’s father, Johnny Osborn was cooking meth when the explosion occurred. Despite his young daughter’s serious burn injuries, Osborn fled, when neighbors wouldn’t comply with his requests not to call 911.
On Tuesday, Osborn went to a local business and asked for medical help for the burns he received on his arms and hands. Employees then called the Lynn Haven Police Department to report a “suspicious” incident. When the Lynn Haven police arrived, they realized they had found the man who was “most wanted” by Sheriff Frank Mckeithen of Bay County. News reports say that then Mckeithen personally arrived to arrest arrest Osborn, before taking him to the hospital to be treated for his burns. Osborn, reports say, was already wanted on warrants out of Georgia. Reports about Sheriff Mckeithen’s reaction to the explosion, said that he was visibly angered and emotional about the incident. In fact, he was so upset with Osborn that he would not refused to acknowledge him as the father, instead choosing to describe him only as the “man that born her”.
Osborn and Wega had only been living in the neighborhood for a month, according to neighbors, who were upset and surprised about the explosion. They described the couple as quiet people, who kept to themselves, and as people who appeared to be good parents. One neighbor said he liked the couple. None of the neighbors, realized that they were running a meth lab. After the explosion, neighbors learned that Johnny Osborn was not the kind of neighbor that they thought he was. Osborn, they said, asked them not to call police after the explosion, because he was wanted by police in Georgia.
Once Osborn gets released from the hospital, he will be taken to the Bay County Jail, where he will be booked on charges including Aggravated Child Abuse, Manufacture of Methamphetamine Resulting in Injury to a Child, and Possession of a Listed Chemical (Pseudoephedrine).
Tessa Wagy, 23, is being charged with aggravated child abuse.
This is the 5th meth related explosion in Bay County in the last two months.
Source: WMBB “Mother Arrested, Father in Hospital After Meth Lab Explosion that Injured Baby”, 8/25/09,http://www.panhandleparade.com/index.php/mbb/article/mother_arrested_father_in_hospital_after_meth_lab_explosion_that_injured_ba/mbb7718501/
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