An Indiana mother has been arrested after police say she gave her 16-year-old daughter and a friend a bottle of vodka and left them in charge of a one-year-old child, who was later found wandering the streets alone.
Ashley Ellis, 42, was taken into custody last week and charged with two counts of neglect of a dependent and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to court records obtained by Law & Crime.
The baby, who was wearing a urine-soaked diaper, was found in the middle of an Evansville street around 5 a.m. on July 5, crying âmommy, mommy,â local outlet WEVV reported. The neighbor brought the child inside, changed her, and called 911.
Police launched a search for the babyâs parents, but instead found Ellisâ 16-year-old daughter and her 15-year-old friend inside the home.
Shortly after police arrived, the 16-year-old suffered what appeared to be a seizure and was rushed to a hospital.
In a police interview, the 15-year-old said Ellis gave both teens a bottle of vodka before leaving at about 1:30 a.m. that morning. She claimed they each took about three shots.
The friend added she did not realize there was a child in the home until around 2:30 a.m., when the one-year-old began crying.
By 4:40 a.m., both teens were vomiting, and she believed thatâs when the baby managed to go outside. The teen estimated the child had been alone in the street for about 30 minutes.
Police tried repeatedly to contact Ellis but could not reach her for two days.
When she eventually spoke with investigators, Ellis allegedly said she only planned to be gone for a few hours but âpanicked when she learned what happened,â according to WFIE, who also reported that Ellis refused to take a drug test.
During the interview, Ellis never said she gave the teens vodka, but did say that there was a bottle in the freezer that they had been asking to drink.
She was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail on Thursday.
