Mother who fled Iowa after son's death in 2020 now in custody
A woman who fled Iowa in 2020 after being sought on child neglect and abandonment charges related to the death of her son has been found.
Erica Lynn Rankins, 35, is in custody at the was located in Minnesota last month and, as of Wednesday, had been transported to Des Moines to face charge by the United States Marshals Service.
Des Moines Police and Fire Departments responded on Dec. 20, 2020 to a residence in the 2400 block of Garfield Ave., in response to a child not breathing. Dispatchers provided the mother with CPR instructions before their arrival, according to a release.
First responders found a 5-year-old boy in full cardiac arrest. Despite continuous life-saving efforts, the child died at Blank Children's Hospital.
While investigating the child's death, Parizek said detectives discovered evidence that "Rankins used unreasonable force, torture, or cruelty that caused substantial mental or emotional harm" to multiple of her children, as well as "evidence of her physically striking at least one of her children."
More:Police look for Des Moines mother suspected of child endangerment, neglect
The police department's investigation resulted in multiple arrest warrants of the child's mother, Rankins for nine counts of child endangerment and two counts of neglect or abandonment of a dependent child. According to an earlier release, victims connected to those charges are multiple minor aged children of Rankins.
Parizek stated that evidence also indicates Rankins "willfully deprived more than one of her children of supervision appropriate for their age."
The warrants for Rankins' arrest are not connected to the death investigation of her five-year-old child.
Then, Rankins fled, declining to surrender to detectives, and the police department asked for the community's help in locating her. In November 2022, she was located in Minnesota and is currently being held at the Polk County Jail, according to the release. Des Moines Police Department continue to investigate the incident.
In an application for a warrant to search Rankins and all of her communication devices, detectives say police received a tip regarding a call Rankins made to a cousin hours before the child's death, at around 1:16 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2020, allegedly stating she had just got done beating her five-year-old child.
The search warrant indicates Rankins told Officer Christian Kirkpatrick on the scene that her five-year-old son had come into her room while she was sleeping and stated that "he had vomited and had a 'boo-boo.'"
Kirkpatrick noticed laundry detergent in the bathroom sink, according to the search warrant application. Rankins said she keeps it there when her cleaning supplies runs low.
Rankins told her son to go to the bathroom to clean himself up, according to the search warrant application. When she later went into the bathroom, she found him laying in the bathtub unresponsive and called 9-1-1, she stated to police. Detectives observed multiple injuries on Rankins' five-year-old child, including a laceration to his left ear, a fracture to his front skull, and "loop" strikes and cigarette marks to his back, an application to search Rankins' home details.
Police say the child's injuries are not consistent with Rankins' account of what happened on Dec. 20, 2020, and that "the injuries are indicative of child abuse."
Noelle Alviz-Gransee is a general assignment reporter at the Des Moines Register. Follow her on Twitter at @NoelleHannika or email her at NAlvizGransee@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines mother charged with child neglect in death returns to Iowa
