Grown woman had catfight with girl, 15, then poured boiling water on her, cops say

DAILYMAIL • 1h ago

By ANANYA SWAROOP, US NEWS REPORTER 21:08 02 Oct 2026, updated 21:55 02 Oct 2026

A 31-year-old Michigan woman was arrested by police for pouring boiling water on a young girl during an intense brawl.

Identified by the police as Shanell Lakeisha Cohen, the woman got physically involved with the 15-year-old teen and took the drastic step of hurting the girl in a hostile manner.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call at around 7.00pm on Sunday about the fight that had escalated in a residential area in Pontiac, Fox 2 reported.

The police arrived to see around 50-100 people fighting in a parking lot of Arborview Village.

After the fight was subdued, police said that Cohen went into her house and returned with a pot of hot water in her hand, heading toward the teenager who was involved in a separate altercation with other people.

She approached the girl and splashed the piping hot water onto her back, hurting her excessively.

The teen was taken to the hospital after suffering extensive burns.

Cohen was arrested on charges of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder, or strangulation, WDIV reported.

‘We have another sad example of a verbal dispute, escalating into dangerous physical violence. Individuals that do so will be held to account,’ Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told Fox 2.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Oakland County Sheriff’s office for comment.

Cohen admitted that she poured the hot water on the teen during the police inquiry. She was taken to the Oakland County Jail.

Her bond was set at $75,000 cash or surety after the defendant’s first formal court appearance before Magistrate Thomas-Scruggs in 50th District Court.

Her next court appearance is scheduled for October 13 at 1.30pm.

The teen remains hospitalized with third-degree burns to her neck and the majority of her back, WDIV reported.

Lasheron Gray, the mother of the teen, told WXYZ: ‘I guess she felt that a 15-year-old was beating her up and she went in the house and got boiling water and came out and threw it at my daughter.’

She added that the incident has taken an emotional toll on the daughter.

‘She’s not doing good at all. She’ll require extensive medical care, she’s still currently in the hospital. She’s been in there since Sunday night,’ Gray said.

Bouchard also talked to the outlet and said that incidents like these have unfortunately become very ‘common’ now not just in Pontiac, but all across the state and the country.

He said that groups of people gather and when someone has a disagreement, ‘part of the crowd gets involved, it gets more physical and then somebody pulls out a weapon.’

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