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Mother Arrested After Leaving Small Children Alone

Last updated on Thursday, October 23, 2014

(MARION) - A central Indiana mother is in jail, accused of leaving her three small children home alone. One of them is a 7-month-old baby girl.

Marion police say the incident began Saturday night and carried over to Sunday morning. Neighbors said they couldn't help but hear the child's cries. Police arrested Ranechia Ward, 22, early Sunday morning after neighbors reported hearing a child that had been crying for several hours.

Police said it happened at an apartment unit located off Greentree Drive in Marion. Police could hear the child crying when they walked into the apartment complex.

When officers got to the apartment, a 4-year-old boy answered the door. Police then found a 6-year-old boy asleep inside, along with a 7-month-old baby girl on the couch crying. Officers noted clothes and dishes were piled up, and they reported the apartment was dirty.

Police found mattresses on the floor of one bedroom, but there were no sheets on it and the condition of the apartment was deplorable.

Police also found drug paraphernalia and pills. Ward came back home while police were there, and she told officers she'd actually left the apartment around midnight.

Ward told police the baby was teething and she had left to go find medicine for the child. She allegedly went to a friend's apartment in the same complex and according to Ward "time got away from her" and she didn't realize how long she had been gone.

Child Protective Services released her children into a family member's custody.

Ward faces three preliminary counts of neglect of a dependent. Those are felony charges. Police also tacked on two drug-related misdemeanor charges.

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