Indiana – An Indiana woman was arrested earlier last week and charged with multiple new counts of chiId negIect, according to court records. She now faces fresh allegations involving the care of her four young children while she was on pr0bation for a previous negIect case that resulted in her baby daughter’s death several years ago.
According to a probable cause affidavit, at approximately 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, Indiana authorities were dispatched to an apartment complex. The call came from the defendant’s mother, who had received a troubled phone call from her 8-year-old grandchild. Responding officers learned that the child was crying and frightened, reporting that she had been left home alone with her three younger siblings, a 6‑year‑old, a 2‑year‑old, and a 4‑month‑old infant, for what appeared to be most of the prior two weeks.
This wasn’t the first time the parent had been under the court’s oversight. She had been on probation after a 2019 fatal incident in which a 6‑month‑old baby died from blunt force injuries. She was originally charged with neglect resulting in death, but in 2023 she pleaded guilty to the lesser count of neglect resulting in injury under a plea agreement. The resulting sentence spared her prison time, consisting instead of two years of home detention and two more years of probation.
During the latest investigation, police arrived to find the apartment in disarray. The home was described as cluttered with trash and rotting food, and officers noted that the children’s beds lacked proper bedding. Detecting a neglectful environment, they arrested the woman and charged her with new counts of child neglect .
When questioned by responding officers, the defendant reportedly offered explanations regarding her whereabouts, stating that she had been out of the home frequently and had assumed her oldest child was caring for the younger ones. She told them the grandmother had been in town but was not staying in the apartment. Officers noted that she appeared uncertain about how long she had been away and did not provide a credible plan for care of the children.
The investigation is ongoing. Prosecutors are preparing a motion to revoke her probation based on these new allegations, which may lead to her serving the remainder of her previous sentence in prison. The mother is being held at the county jail without bond on the new charges.
Court documents indicate that the defendant’s next hearing is scheduled in the coming weeks, during which judges will consider both her current neglect charges and the prosecution’s request to revoke her probation. If her probation is revoked, she could face significant time behind bars. As investigations continue, the welfare of her children remains a top priority for child protective services and officers involved in the case.
