A 12-year-old autistic child left home alone was struck by a car near East 25th Street and Manlove Avenue on Saturday, after the woman responsible for watching the child and two other young relatives was allegedly drinking heavily and left all three unsupervised, according to court documents. The child suffered a broken arm and knee injuries that reportedly required surgery.
The woman, identified in court documents as Loretta Buckingham, was watching three underage autistic family members, ages 10, 11 and 12, at the time, according to court documents cited by WTHR. An IMPD officer responded to a report of an injury crash involving a vehicle and a 12-year-old at the Indianapolis intersection, per the same court documents.
Court documents say the driver was traveling westbound on East 25th Street when the child entered the roadway. The driver told investigators the child was in the middle of the road and that they attempted to swerve but ultimately struck the child, according to court documents.
Officer Found Child Injured, Signaling Arm Pain
The responding IMPD officer observed a laceration on the child and noted the child signaling arm pain, court documents state. The child was taken to an area hospital, where medical staff reportedly found a broken arm along with knee injuries that required surgery.
Buckingham could barely speak when officers confronted her, according to the report. She reportedly told officers she drinks beer and said she had consumed five to six beers, and she told officers she has a drinking problem, per court documents described in the WTHR account.
Charges Filed
Buckingham was charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury, neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, and two additional counts of neglect of a dependent, court documents show.
Online court records showed an initial hearing for Buckingham scheduled for Tuesday. The evidence reviewed does not indicate what plea, if any, was entered or how the hearing concluded. Court information for Indiana cases is generally searchable through Odyssey Public Access, known as MyCase, though access to certain records is restricted under federal and state law and court rules.
This case is separate from another recent Indianapolis matter in which Chantell Monae Gardner was preliminarily charged with neglect of a dependent under 14 resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, after her 2-year-old daughter was found dead, according to FOX59. In that case, court documents reportedly said Gardner admitted to leaving her daughter and a 3-year-old sibling home alone for most of the day, checking on them once daily to bring food and a drink. The cases involve different allegations.
