MITCHELL – A Mitchell woman was arrested after a warrant was issued for her arrest on a charge of child neglect.
According to a probable cause affidavit, on October 14, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. Mitchell Police officers responded to a home in the 700 block of Crawford Street after a report of finding a missing toddler.
The caller reported a lost little boy around 2 to 3 years old had showed up at her home. The caller did not know the child. The toddler was only wearing a t-shirt and diaper. The caller told police she was looking outside her window when she saw the child walking down the middle of Crawford Street. She told police this was not the first time she had found the child unattended. Officers had picked up the child before from her home. The caller did not know where the child lived or his parents.
An officer remembered the child lived in the 500 block of 9th Street. Officers went to the home and found the child’s mother 24-year-old Amanda Carpenter asleep. She did not know the child was missing.
According to police, the Department of Child Services had ordered Carpenter to place better locks on her door but had failed to do so.
DCS was contacted and a caseworker responded to the scene. Carpenter refused to submit to a drug test and refused to allow DCS into the residence to assess the child’s living conditions.
According to Mitchell Police Chief Troy Lobosky, this is not the first time the child has wandered from home. The last incident was on September 15, 2023.
The information was forwarded to the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office and a warrant was issued for Carpenter’s arrest on a charge of child neglect.
