Police say Michigan woman left a brawl of up to 100 people, took a pot of boiling water off her stove, and came back to pour it on a 15-year-old girl

A 31-year-old Michigan woman is in custody after allegedly pouring boiling water on a 15-year-old girl during a brawl. Shanell Lakeisha Cohen now faces a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder, or by strangulation. The incident began Sunday evening, when deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a large fight near Leonard Lane in Pontiac around 7 PM.

When they arrived, they estimated that between 50 and 100 people were gathered in the parking lot, according to Law&Crime. According to investigators, the victim and Cohen were initially involved in a physical altercation, but the situation spiraled further. After that altercation ended, investigators determined Cohen went inside her residence and removed a pot of boiling water from the stove.

Cohen then headed back outside while the teenager was caught up in a separate physical fight with other people. Detectives determined that Cohen approached the teenager during that struggle and poured the boiling water directly onto her back. The victim suffered what were described as “extensive burns” and was transported by ambulance to McLaren Oakland Hospital.

The teen remains hospitalized with third-degree burns

Due to the severity of the injuries, she was eventually transferred to Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. She remains hospitalized with third-degree burns to her neck and the majority of her back. Her mother told WXYZ that the teen is not doing well and will require extensive medical care.

Fights involving teenagers can turn dangerous within minutes. In Los Angeles, a teacher tried to pull apart two students fighting in class, and minutes later one of them fell four stories into the school quad.

Cohen turned herself in for an interview with detectives at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Pontiac Substation on Thursday. During that interview, she admitted to pouring the boiling water on the teen, the sheriff’s office said. She was subsequently arrested and booked into the Oakland County Jail, and the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office authorized one count against her. The charge remains an allegation, as Cohen has not been convicted.

During her arraignment that day, a judge set her bond at $75,000 cash or surety, with a 10 percent provision. The judge also noted that Cohen has numerous outstanding warrants in Oakland County. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard addressed the incident in a statement.

“We have another sad example of a verbal dispute, escalating into dangerous physical violence,” Bouchard said, adding that individuals who do so will be held to account. He separately said such fights are becoming more common across the state and the country. Bouchard said these disputes tend to escalate until somebody pulls out a weapon.

The weapon in this case was a pot of boiling water, as Cohen had allegedly left the fight and come back with it, he said. Cohen is scheduled to appear back in court for a probable cause conference on the afternoon of October 13, and she faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in a state prison if she is convicted in the boiling water case.