Woman who served time for prior child neglect charge now charged in stepson's death

A woman who previously served time in prison for child neglect is now facing charges in connection to the death of her 6-year-old stepson .

Anitra Burks, 33, of Milwaukee, was charged Friday with intentional homicide and neglecting a child in connection with Zane Adams' death. Zane, Burks' stepson, was pronounced dead early Monday morning.

According to online court records, Burks pleaded "no contest" to child abuse-recklessly causing bodily harm and was sentenced in 2013 to three years in prison and six years of extended supervision for burning a 14-month-old boy with hot water during a bath. A judge in 2015 reduced her supervision from six years to five years.

She served two years and two months at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, followed by roughly five years on extended supervision that ended in August of 2021.

According to the criminal complaint connected to Zane's death, Burks was arrested Monday after taking her stepson to a hospital. Zane was in critical condition with "bruises head to toe," according to the complaint. Despite lifesaving efforts by staff, the 6-year-old died Monday.

According to the complaint, Burks told Milwaukee police detectives while being questioned at the hospital that she had been Zane's sole caretaker since his biological father's arrest. The father is awaiting sentencing for an unrelated crime. Burks told detectives the injuries on the child's body were self-inflicted due to behavioral issues, according to the complaint.

The complaint said Burks told police she called an on-call nurse to report Zane was vomiting and his abdomen felt "hard." Burks asked the nurse if she should bring Zane in for medical care, and the nurse said yes.

Burks and Zane took a transport van to the hospital. The child died during a surgery to stop internal bleeding, the complaint said.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office preliminary autopsy determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma, stating his injuries were "extremely rare in accidental trauma" and ruled Zane's cause of death to be homicide.

On Friday, Burke remained in Milwaukee County Jail on $100,000 bail.

The state Department of Children and Families was notified of the child's death and is performing what's known as a summary review, which is standard practice in such cases. The results will be released in 90 days.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Woman who served time for prior child neglect charge now charged in stepson's death