Parents face neglect charges

The parents of a 4-month-old girl were arrested and preliminarily charged with neglect Friday after allegedly failing to seek proper medical treatment for their baby, who had been suffering seizures.

John Richard Allen, 30, and Heather Jean Miller, 20, are booked at the Monroe County Jail, both facing preliminary charges for neglect of a dependent.

Allen additionally faces preliminary charges for aggravated battery. 

Bond is set for each individual at $10,000 surety and $1,000 cash.

The morning of March 22, Allen and Miller brought the baby to IU Health Bloomington for examination of a possible brain injury, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Dana Cole said.

The child was referred by personnel at the hospital to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, and the parents were given the option to either have an ambulance transport her or find transportation themselves.

The parents told Department of Child Services officials they would bring the baby to Riley themselves by that evening but failed to do so. DCS contacted BPD that evening to locate Allen and Miller, Cole said.

BPD officers on the night shift located Allen and Miller near the Crestmont neighborhood that evening, and the girl was transported to Riley during the early morning hours of March 23.

The parents were then brought to BPD for questioning.

During an interview, Miller told police she and Allen could not find a way to transport their daughter to Indianapolis. When asked if she understood the severity of the child’s injuries, Miller acted as if nothing was wrong with the child, Cole said.

Miller also told police the father would shake and roughhouse with the child and once dropped her.

During an interview with police, Allen admitted to having anger issues as well as dropping the infant once when she was two months old.

Allen also admitted to having an alcohol problem, and while he did not want to hurt the baby when he was drinking, the alcohol caused it to happen, Cole said.

On March 27, police spoke with medical personnel at Riley, who determined the baby was suffering from bilateral subdural hematoma and told police the injuries sustained by the child were consistent with the symptoms of shaken baby syndrome.

Although an initial probable cause affidavit was called in March 28, an amended version was issued Friday, when a detective on the case arrested Allen and Miller at a McDonald’s restaurant on the west side of Bloomington.

The child has since been released to CPS and placed in foster care.

— Kirsten Clark