Chantell Gardner (Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department).
An Indiana mother fed her two children, ages 2 and 4, once a day before leaving them alone in a home all to themselves, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department — and now, one of them, a 2-year-old girl, is dead and the mom is behind bars.
Chantell Gardner, 33, is facing a charge of child neglect causing death. She’s at the Marion County Jail without bond. A probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime described the girl’s death.
Gardner called 911 around 6:30 p.m. after she found the girl, identified by CW affiliate WISH as Skyler Gardner, unresponsive and “cold to the touch” under a bedroom dresser, the affidavit says.
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Gardner told police she came to the apartment to feed her kids and while her son came to her, Skyler did not. That’s what led to the grim discovery. She said she grabbed her son and ran outside to call 911. Paramedics responded to the home and pronounced Skylar dead. She had been deceased for some time as rigor mortis had set in, the affidavit said. The girl was suffering from a “large puncture wound” on her neck and bruises on her face, arms, legs and back.
Police walked through the home and “observed trash scattered, human feces, steak knives and soiled items on the floor to the point it was not visible,” the affidavit said. They also found feces on the wall and rotting food throughout.
Post-Miranda, Gardner said she “knew she neglected” her daughter. She claimed it would be typical for her to leave her two kids alone for hours on end, only coming to their aid once a day to feed them. Gardner said she hadn’t bathed one of her kids for nearly two weeks and would often find them with feces on their hands and feet.
She insisted that despite neglecting Skyler, she never physically harmed or sexually abused her, the affidavit reportedly said.
Gardner’s boyfriend confirmed her account. He said she spent each night at his home, and almost never had the children with her. They were with her “once a week at most,” he told cops.
Officers then placed Gardner under arrest and took her to the Marion County Jail where she remains.
