Staff Report

WARSAW — A Warsaw woman was booked at the Kosciusko County Jail after her child was found walking along the street.

Kayla Fitzpatrick

Kayla Ranae Fitzpatrick, 27, 611 E. Market St., Warsaw, is charged with neglect of a dependent, a level 6 felony. 

According to information in the affidavit of probable cause, on Sept. 3,  a Warsaw Police officer was driving on Market Street near the area of Park Avenue in Warsaw when she observed two people, a man and a woman, waving her down.

The woman was holding a young child who was not wearing shoes or a shirt. 

The man and woman who waved the officer down said they were traveling in their vehicle when they saw the child walking down the street alone. 

The couple stopped their vehicle and were going to contact 911 when they saw the WPD officer so they flagged the officer down instead.

The officer knew from a previous incident that the child was Fitzpatrick’s child.

The officer took the child to Fitzpatrick’s residence and made contact with Fitzpatrick, according to the affidavit.

Fitzpatrick allegedly stated she had laid down to go to sleep with her boyfriend and was not aware that the child was outside the residence. Fitzpatrick told the officer that Child Protective Services had done a home visit shortly before the officer arrived at the residence. 

Fitzpatrick gave the officer the name of a woman who she said gets paid to watch the children in the residence. Fitzpatrick said the woman must have left. Fitzpatrick further stated that the woman has left the children unsupervised in the residence in the past but said she continues to pay her. 

According to the affidavit of probable cause, this was the third incident involving this child being unsupervised in the roadway with traffic, with the other incidents occurring on Sept. 2  and July 17.

Fitzpatrick was booked at the Kosciusko County Jail Sept. 23 on a $500 cash bond.