Muncie mother arrested for neglect after children, ages 3 and 1, are left home alone
MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie mother was arrested after city police learned she had left her two children, ages 3 and 1, home alone.
Elizabeth Martinez, 33, was taken into custody on two preliminary counts of neglect of a dependent. She was released from the Delaware County jail after posting a $10,000 bond.
About 10 a.m. on Sept. 5, city police were sent to the 2800 block of West Burnell Drive after a resident reported finding a three-year-old boy, outside and unattended, "screaming and crying."
Police entered an open front door at the address where the child was found and determined a younger child was asleep in an upstair bedroom.
About 10:30 a.m., Martinez — determined to be the youngsters' mother — returned to the home.
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During an interview facilitated by a Muncie Police Department victim's advocate employee who speaks Spanish, Martinez said she had left her home about 7:40 a.m. and dropped an older child off at Northside Middle School, then went to the northside Muncie YMCA.
Martinez "said she was watching the two youngest children using a camera that was affixed in the home," an officer wrote.
"She stated that she had done this four or five times within the past two weeks," he added.
An official with the Indiana Department of Child Services was called to the scene.
Officers also asked Martinez's husband, who was reportedly at work, to return home. He said he was "unaware Elizabeth left the children unattended," according to an affidavit.
"It was evident that the children could not care for themselves due to their age," the officer wrote.
On Friday, Martinez was formally charged with two neglect counts, both Level 6 felonies carrying maximum 30-month prison terms.
An initial hearing in the Delaware Circuit Court 4 case is set for Sept. 29.
Court records reflect no prior charges against Martinez.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie mother arrested for neglect after children are left home alone
