"John Doe" LOUIS - 9 yo - Midwest City (E of Oklahoma City) OK

A Midwest City woman has died while awaiting sentencing for child abuse.
Joycelyn Louis, 73, was accused in the felony case of repeatedly burning her
adopted son with a heated metal potato masher last July. The victim, 9,
was permanently scarred, officials said.
"I’ve been dealing with kids all my life. I’ve never hurt any children,”
she told a state psychologist a few days before her death, records
show.Louis died at a hospital May 1 of congestive heart failure, officials
said. She had a number of physical problems and needed oxygen tubes to
help her breathing.She was charged with child abuse Aug. 3. Police reported the victim
suffered second- and third-degree burns on both arms and his right leg.
The boy said his mother accused him of stealing money from her. He said
she burned him with the potato masher after putting it on the stove
"until it got red hot.”Louis admitted in July to a Department
of Human Services worker she heated the potato masher and pressed
it to the boy’s arms because he wouldn’t listen, police reported. She
since had denied abusing the boy or she had said she didn’t remember.
Despite those denials, she was last at the Oklahoma
County courthouse April 14 for a sentencing. The judge already had
been given a report on her background and letters of support from her
relatives.Instead, Louis’ daughter rushed her from the courthouse to see a doctor
when she experienced trouble breathing.Her case was delayed
again the next day when the judge ordered a mental
competency examination for her because of concerns raised by her defense
attorney. Because of the delays, she never pleaded guilty, or no
contest, to the charge.The state psychologist who examined Louis reported to the judge April 27
that she was mentally competent.The psychologist reported Louis was feigning memory problems and mental
confusion. The psychologist wrote Louis’ claims of having hallucinations
were "equally questionable.”Louis "had served as a foster parent to dozens of children over many
years” and once had run a day care in California
"with no substantiated allegations of abuse,” her attorney told the
psychologist, according to the psychologist’s report. She died Wednesday, when a
judicial review of the competency examination had been scheduled.