A 42-year-old Indiana mother was arrested after allegedly giving her 16-year-old daughter a bottle of vodka, then leaving the teen and her friend alone with a 1-year-old who later wandered into the street at night.
Authorities said Ashley Ellis was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with two counts of neglect of a dependent and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The incident happened in the early morning hours of July 5 outside a home on the 1700 block of Stevens Avenue in Evansville, about 165 miles southwest of Indianapolis, local NBC affiliate WFIE reported.
Police said a female neighbor found Ellis’ 1-year-old child walking in the middle of the street wearing a urine-soaked diaper. The neighbor went outside around 5 a.m., brought the child to safety, and called 911. During the call, she told the dispatcher she woke up to barking dogs and, looking out the window, saw the toddler repeatedly yelling “mommy, mommy,” local CBS and Fox affiliate WEVV reported.
The neighbor said she changed the toddler’s diaper after bringing her inside and noticed the child had a severe diaper rash and a sore.
First responders went to the toddler’s home to locate a parent but only found Ellis’ 16-year-old daughter and the teen’s 15-year-old friend. Shortly after police arrived, the 16-year-old appeared to have a seizure and was taken to a local hospital by ambulance.
In an interview with police, the 15-year-old friend said Ellis gave them a bottle of vodka around 1:30 a.m. and left. She claimed they each took about three shots of alcohol.
The friend also told police she didn’t know a toddler was in the house until about 2:30 a.m., when she heard crying. She said she and the 16-year-old were vomiting around 4:40 a.m., which she believed was when the toddler went outside calling for Ellis. She estimated the child had been outside for about 30 minutes.
Officers tried contacting Ellis several times but couldn’t reach her for two days. When she finally spoke with authorities, Ellis reportedly said she only planned to be gone for a few hours but panicked when she learned what happened. She also refused to take a drug test, WFIE reported.
Ellis is currently held in the Vanderburgh County Jail on $750 bond and is scheduled to appear in court for an initial hearing Friday afternoon, court records show.
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