Inset: Amanda B. Lane (Lawrence County Jail). Background: The area in Indiana where Lane's daughter died in the bathtub (Google Maps).
A 32-year-old woman in Indiana is accused of fatally scalding and drowning her 22-month-old daughter in a bathtub.
Amanda B. Lane was taken into custody and charged with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death in connection with the death of Juliana Lucille Payton, court records show.
The investigation into Lane began Nov. 5, when emergency medical personnel responded to a home in the 200 block of West Hancock Avenue at about noon for a 911 call about an unresponsive toddler, Bedford, Indiana-based news radio station WBIW reported. The child, later identified as Juliana, was taken to Indiana University Health, where she was pronounced dead.
The child had "suffered severe burns to her entire body, leaving her skin blistered and peeling from head to toe," Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN reported, citing court documents.
Officers with the Indiana State Police obtained and executed a search warrant on the home and reportedly found that the water in the bathtub where the child was discovered measured 118 degrees.
In an interview with detectives, the victim's father said he spent that morning at a court hearing and then went to the grocery store with his ex-girlfriend before returning home around noon. When he got home, the father asked Lane, who was seated in a back room of the home, where their daughter was, and Lane allegedly responded that the child was "in the bathtub," according to Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV.
The father reportedly ran to the bathroom and found the toddler floating facedown in the water, "lifeless and unresponsive." He screamed for his ex-girlfriend to call 911 and ran to a relative's home next door, reportedly yelling that "his daughter was gone."
A witness who had been in the home that morning said she had put the toddler in the tub with about 1 or 2 inches of water at Lane's request, per WBIW. The witness said the toddler was playing in the tub after washing and was still there when she left the home around 10:30 a.m., adding that she made sure Lane knew.
The witness reportedly tried to contact Lane at 10:44 a.m. to check on the child. Lane allegedly did not respond until 11:24 a.m., when she wrote: "I can't get her out, and she's p—ed," presumably referring to her daughter in the bathtub. The witness offered to get additional help for Lane, who allegedly reassured the witness that the situation was "fine," reportedly writing, "Don't worry about it" and "I got it."
The father reportedly added that he and Lane had been together about four years and reportedly said she was pregnant. He allegedly claimed she was acting normal before he left home that morning.
Lane was processed at the Lawrence County Jail. It was not immediately clear when Lane was scheduled to appear in court.
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