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Parents Charged With Neglect After Child Suffocates

Alcohol Found In Girl's System, Bottle

POSTED: 5:44 pm EDT May 19, 2008
UPDATED: 10:08 am EDT May 20, 2008

The parents of a 7-month-old girl who died in March were charged with felony neglect after toxicology tests revealed that the girl had ingested alcohol, police said.

Faith Reed died of suffocation in an upstairs bedroom of a duplex in the 1800 block of Morris Street when she fell off a bare mattress and got wrapped up in a garbage bag, 6News' Tanya Spencer reported.


Images From Inside Home

Police said Reed also had alcohol in her system and in her baby bottle.

The child's parents, Kathryn Turner and William Reed, told police they had been drug addicts. Each was jailed on $100,000 bond.

"Please -- I think she's dead. Please hurry," Turner told a 911 dispatcher on the day the child died. "She was sleeping upstairs, and I went to go check on her and she had a plastic bag."

An autopsy revealed that the baby had been dead for some time before her 4-year-old sister found her unresponsive, police said.

Doctors said Faith Reed's diaper had not been changed for up to 12 hours and that conditions in the west-side duplex where the child lived were filthy.

William Reed and Kathryn Turner

"The child said something to the effect of 'sissy falls off the bed a lot,'" said Indianapolis Metro police Lt. Jeff Duhamell. "It's just traumatic and I can't imagine a 4-year-old, how she's doing now. To see her little sister … with a bag around her head and not breathing has to be pretty traumatic."

Detectives said there was feces in the bathtub and mold growing on dishes scattered throughout the home.

Dirty diapers, cigarette butts and unidentified pills were found lying on the floor on which the child slept, according to police. Officers said there was so much trash that the room's floor couldn't be seen.

The landlord, who didn't want to be identified, gave 6News several pictures from inside the home that she said were taken at the time of the baby's death.

"The trash wasn't going out. The kids were filthy. They were always crying," the landlord said.

Child Protective Services had investigated the conditions in the home twice before, Spencer reported. The child was born with cocaine and marijuana in her system, police said.

"I knew those kids were in danger weeks before this happened. I made a call to CPS. It was supposed to be being monitored. It's obvious that wasn't happening," the landlord said.

Police said they are not sure what kind of alcohol was in the baby's system, but they did take a bottle of tequila from the home for evidence.

The couple's 4- and 2-year-old daughters are staying with family members. Reed and Turner are expected in court on Tuesday.

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