Inset: Darnisha Lumpkin (McLennan County Sheriff's Office). Background: The area near where Lumpkin allegedly injured her son with autism in Waco, Texas (Google Maps).
A Texas woman was recently arrested for injuring her child, leaving him home alone, and then lying about it over and over, police in the Lone Star State say.
Darnisha Lumpkin, 34, stands accused of injury to a child and making a false report to a peace officer, according to the Waco Police Department.
The underlying incident occurred on July 27, when police were called about an assault on Calumet Avenue in Waco.
When an officer arrived, the defendant allegedly said she left the apartment around 3:10 p.m. to get mail from the mailbox, leaving her son with autism alone for roughly 10 minutes, according to an affidavit obtained by Waco-based CBS and Telemundo affiliate KWTX.
Upon her return, however, Lumpkin said she saw the front door was open and that her son had injuries on his face, back and arms, police said. The injuries seemed to have been caused by a belt or digital device cable, the defendant allegedly added.
Next, Lumpkin told police that an unknown man had entered the family's apartment, taken selfies on an iPad, broken the tablet, and then bit her son before he left, causing the boy's injuries, according to the charging document.
The responding officer, however, did not notice any bite marks on the child, according to law enforcement.
The case was subsequently assigned to a detective with the Crimes Against Children Unit.
As the investigation progressed, Lumpkin maintained the version of events she had told the responding officer when she spoke to the detective, according to the affidavit.
Additionally, the defendant told the detective that she was taking her son out of Waco ISD because she did not believe the school district had the capabilities to deal with her son and his level of autism, according to the charging document. The mother allegedly said her son would frequently leave school. In turn, Lumpkin said she would be homeschooling her child for the upcoming year, police allege.
The detective in charge of the case then reviewed security footage from the apartment complex, according to the affidavit.
Footage of the back of the building did not show anyone leaving between 12:30 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. on the day in question, police said. Footage of the mailbox allegedly did not show the defendant visiting the area at the time in question, according to law enforcement.
In early August, police forensically extracted data from the broken iPad, according to the affidavit.
The detective learned, through messages culled from the device, that Lumpkin had left the apartment to visit the doctor for a scheduled appointment on July 27, the day police were called about the alleged assault, authorities claim. That information had been omitted from every statement the defendant made to investigators, police said.
In mid-August, the child participated in an interview where he claimed his mother previously hit him with a belt, law enforcement claims.
In a related child welfare investigation, Lumpkin's son "stated that he was left home by himself playing Chicka Chicka boom boom," the detective noted in the charging document. The victim also allegedly said, "his mom hit him with a belt and got him in big, big trouble."
During another interview with the detective, the defendant allegedly first reiterated her claim that she went to the mailbox, police said.
When she was asked about a doctor's appointment that day, Lumpkin repeatedly denied it but ultimately said she did not know, the charging document alleges. Eventually, the woman admitted she had the appointment that day, according to law enforcement.
Lumpkin also allegedly admitted that her son was throwing a tantrum that day, so she left him unsupervised. Then, when questioned again about leaving through the back of the building to get the mail, the mother finally said she had done no such thing, police said.
In the affidavit, the detective theorized that Lumpkin had tried to destroy the record of her leaving her son alone for hours while she went to the doctor's office. The detective also said the child's autism means that he should not ever be left without adult supervision.
Lumpkin was arrested and detained in the McLennan County Jail; she has since posted bond, records show.