Background: Big Shots Pub in Muncie, Ind. (Google Maps). Inset: Sandra Henriquez (Delaware County Sheriff’s Office).
Indiana police were called to a home where neighbors reportedly heard babies crying — while their mother was in a nearby jail.
According to court documents obtained by local Fox affiliate WXIN, police responded to reports in the early hours of March 12 that a vehicle had hit a pole at an intersection in Muncie. Inside the car was 32-year-old Sandra Henriquez, who was allegedly slurring her words, according to the police. When officers noticed a car seat in the car, officers asked Henriquez if she had any children. She reportedly said, at 7:22 a.m., that she had “no dependents.”
About half an hour later, she told staff at the Delaware County Jail that she did have children, but was “unwilling” to share her home address, according to documents obtained by the Muncie Star Press.
Meanwhile, officers from the Muncie Police Department responded to calls from neighbors of Henriquez who claimed to hear babies crying inside a home at around 2:22 p.m. the same afternoon. According to court documents, police forced their way inside the home and found two babies — one of them 1 year old, the other 9 days old — and both of them in heavily soiled diapers.
The documents stated that the newborn showed signs of malnutrition, including blue extremities and lips. The older baby was reportedly in good health. Both babies were rushed to the hospital for treatment, and the newborn was reportedly treated with a feeding tube.
Police also reportedly found several open beer cans and a dog in a cage without food or water.
WXIN reported that by 3 p.m., Henriquez was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Division and interviewed. She reportedly told police that she had gone to a bar called Big Shots Pub at around 12:30 a.m. that morning after drinking a 6-pack of 16 oz. cans of Budweiser. Henriquez allegedly admitted that she left her two babies at home.
Henriquez now faces preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, abandonment, two counts of neglect of a dependent, and obstruction of justice. She is currently in custody at the Delaware County Jail on $42,500 bond.
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