Inset: Sarah Vicker (Madison County Detention Center). Background: The Revival Tabernacle church in Richmond, Kentucky (Google Maps).
A Kentucky woman abandoned her toddler without food inside an empty apartment, wrote a goodbye letter to her partner, and then traveled to a church, authorities say.
Sarah Vicker, 34, stands charged with abuse of a child 12 or under and the abandonment of a minor, Hamilton County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The sequence of events occurred on Wednesday.
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At about 9 a.m., Vicker fed her 1-year-old daughter inside an apartment on Villa Drive in Richmond, according to court documents obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader.
About two hours later, the defendant allegedly left the child inside of a playpen next to a 65-inch TV without any additional food, wrote a farewell note to her significant other, and left.
She did not lock the door on her way out, authorities said.
About two hours later, Richmond police officers tracked her down at the Revival Tabernacle church, which is about a mile and a half away from Villa Drive. The mother reportedly had a simple reasoning for doing what she'd done.
"My flesh and spirit could not take it no longer, so I left," Vicker allegedly told officers.
According to Lexington-based CBS affiliate WKYT, police learned Vicker had walked to the church.
"They did find a 1-year-old child left in this person's apartment that had just been abandoned," Makenzie Davis, Richmond Police executive assistant told the TV station. "The child was alone in a playpen along with a note saying that the mother had intended to leave."
"Overall, the situation with the door unlocked just made it very unsafe for the child," Davis added.
Vicker was booked into the Madison County Jail on Wednesday and placed on a $10,000 bond.
She was scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
