I IN THE JOHNSON COURT 410011609F6000405 COUNTY OF JOHNSON CAUSE NUMBER. 41 STATE OF INDIANA STATE OF INDIANA INFORMATION FOR: Vs NEGLECT or A DEPENDENT Edinburgh, IN 46124 gain 2815 DOB: 11/11x1994 SSN: [ti/M 4m LERK. JOHNSON CIRCUIT 8: SUPERIOR COURTS CHEYANNE VERNICE MEREDITH LC. 502 N. Clay St. a Level 6 Felony The undersigned affiant, being duly sworn upon his oath, says that he is informed and verily believes that: on, about, or between January 21, 2016 and February 11, 2016 in Johnson County, State of Indiana, Cheyanne Vernice Meredith having the care of S.M., a dependent, did knowingly place said dependent in a situation that endangered the dependent's life and/or health. All of which is contrary to the laws of the State of Indiana. I affirm under the penalties of perjury as specified by I.C. that the foregoing representations are true. I/we hereby certify, to the best of our lniowledge. that the foregoing document. complies with the requirements of Trial Rule 5(6) with regard to information excluded from the public record by Administrative Rule i State of Indiana, County of Johnson,'SS: Probable Cause Affidavit Detective David Lutz of the Edinburgh Police Department, who swears that he believes and-has good cause. to. .. believe the following facts and circumstances: Neglect of a Dependent Child occurred at 500 East Main Cross Street in Edinburgh, Johnson County. Indiana. The suspect in this case is: Cheyenne Vernice Meredith DOB: 11/11/1994. Your affiant received information from Bradley McCarty of the Department of Child Services (hereinafter referred to as DCS) and from the Edinburgh Eastside Elementary School. On January 21. 2016, Edinburgh Eastside School based therapist from Adult and Child, Joanna Spray stated she had shifted focus of eredith?s family therapy with Cheyenne Meredith to parenting skills. Spray stated has sexualized behaviors at school. She stated he has told other students that he wants to ?put his pee pee in their mouth." She stated he has also drawn penises on gingerbread men. Spray further stated there have been concerns about lack of supervision by Cheyenne. She stated the family is finding loopholes because Edinburgh is in 3 different counties. Spray stated Cheyenne Meredith does not have strong parenting skills. Spray stated the school has had to wash Meredith?s five year old son, - clothes because Meredith will send him to. school in the same pants 9 days in a row. Spray stated last wee icy had to throw away backpack because it smelled so bad. Spray stated there are a lot of concerns about hygiene and supervision with Meredith. Department of Child Services were notified and Brad McCarty was assigned to address concerns at Cheyanne?s ity. Bartholomew County DCS has an Open investigation involving Meredith?s who has come home from visits with bruises after visitation with her house. which is in Johnson Cour two year old daughter. I . father, who lives in Columbus. Spray stated Meredith has concerns because. K. has a temper. father. Dylan Ray Merritt 20l 6 your affiant responded to the Eastside Elementary School investigating a battery report on Your affiant interviewed I in reference to the injuries on his face that were reorted by 1. Your afflant photographed the injuries and recorded a statement taken from 3? informed en down at first on a brick floor in his home, (your af?ant later discovered thy don?t stated his unclehit him with a toy ?retruck. I had several stories about . has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD). ing about the injuries. School staff stated usually On ?ebrua th schoo your affi ant he had fall have a brick floor) how it occurred and was all over the place. was very hyper but apprehensive about talk very dirty and smells when he comes to school. He looks disheveled at times. Your affiant and Brad McCarty of DCS drove to Meredith"s home located at 500 E. Main Cross Street in Edinburgh. Meredith answered the door and came Outside, closing the door behind her. She would not let your affront or McCarty inside stating the 15~20 dogs in the home would be barking and jumping on everyone. Meredith further stated she her Uncle William r1rd Aunt Charity Ayers rent the home and would not like her inviting others into the home. She stated is very hyper and his medication for ADD wears of?arer in the day which is why he probably ild not sit still for your affiant. She did not know he had a bruise. Charity and William mainly take care of I because Meredith works nights at Buffalo Wild Wings in Columbus. Meredith is starting. to work more first shifts now. Meredith-told your affiant her daughter is involved with Department of Child Services in Bartholomew County. Her name is came home with an unexplained bruise from her father's home. Meredith uncle, William Ayers has never been known to be violent and is good with "it He has spanked the butt but never has abused . They Spank on the butt and it is always over the clothes. Sometimes, a medications will wear Off and he is violent towards himself. He will hit himselfin the head at times. he has a tendency to make up stories and lie. t, - He gets his medication for ADD in the mornings. Meredithtold your affiant they have running hot water in the home-and it .is heated with. Space heaters she said. The natural gas had been shut off. They mainly stay upstairs. gets a bath every other night at least. She - did not know he was ?lthy in appearance today. Meredith did not seem concerned about the injury. McCarty asked if Meredith could take 3, to get checked out by a doctor and she made several excuses like they were closed. McCarty suggested taking him to an immediate care facility since they stay open later or the emergency room. Meredith stated he bruises easily and must have fallen down. Meredith stated she would take him to a doctor that night to get examined. Meredith stated her baby was upstairs. but again refused our entry after your - affiant asked to see the infant. On February 2. 20] 6 Bradley received a text message from Meredith stating she was not able to get . doctor yesterday because of no vehicle. Meredith then text she has not gone toda because she is at Riley getting a test ran on her daughter. Bradley texted Meredith and asked if she had taken A to the hospital. Meredith text back and stated she did not have a chance due to her aunt and uncle had to work overtime. Bradley asked if she could take him today. Meredith replied she will try but she is at Riley Hospital with her daughter which is getting another test performed. Bradley asked if there is anyone else to take him. Meredith responded by saying she does not neglect her children and she does not have time to deal with this right now. On February 4, 2016 Bradley went to Cheyenne Meredith?s home for a meeting with Cheyanne?s aunt and uncle, Charity and William Ayers. William stated Meredith has a bad temper with the kids. especially Meredith did not want to take him to the hospital and they got into an argument about it. Meredith left last night and they have not heard from her or the kids. William stated Meredith always has her grandfather?s car so there is no reason for not to go to the hospital. William and Charity told her they would have taken him but Cheyanne's sister ended up taking 'o'ld William and Charity his mother smacked him and he fell down the stairs. They insisted that I ell the truth and he told them that he was telling the truth. . is on medication for ADD. According to William. Meredith can't handle him. She does not want her children and she wants to hang out with her boyfriend's. They are not aware of when i J?as hit but they did notice a bruise. Meredith and is father. Dylan blame each other for so they are unsure of how it. occurred. Meredith does not give the children baths regularly and i 'eeds the baby at times because Meredith is unwilling. Meredith always allows her friends to watch her kids and just drops them off. Meredith even sneaks out when the kids are asleep leaving them alone at times. Meredith won't feed her own kids so William and Charity do it. Meredith has been seen smacking them in their faces and butts at times. William did whip on Saturday because stuck a knife in the electrical socket. One day the)? were sitting downstairs and came rolling down the stairs. Meredith then appears seconds later and said she was sorry and didn?t mean to push him down the stairs. She acted like she did not know they were downstairs. Ayers have many concerns for the kids in her care. On February 5, 2016 Bradley went to Eastside Elementary unannounced to visit with efused to talk at first and went and hid in the restroom. He then came out. Bradley and play Paper, Rock, Scissors game and he Opened up. Whoever won would ask a question. Bradley won and asked where ?got the bruise on his face from. stated his mom smacked him in the face and he then fell down stairs. He then repeated it later on and pointed to where he was hit when falling down the stairs. He said it hurt. f3? has a stench to him and appeared filthy. His hair was a mess and did not appeared washed in a while. His clothes had stains and dirt marks in them. Bradley talked with It teacher, Melissa Crawhorn. is always starving. Staff had to help "r team to use a fork to eat. He 'ias been observed by teachers diving on the ?oor to eat others food that was dio . pd. He smells like urine and animal feces sometimes. He is always filthy. Meredith makes him get up and feed the baby I) at ni ht and refuses to help. He has been observed outside of his home latest night with no . was sent several boxes of clothes from school before Christmas. They. have not seen any of those clothes beng worn and he wears the 'same outfit most days. presents as if does not take a shower. His mother . . - tells him not to talk to school staff. The school got him three winter coats this winterand-he :has lostthem all.- They have to wash them every other day when he comes to school ecause they are filthy or smell like animal urine. There is believed to be more than six dogs in the home. ton the custodian he fell to the ground after his mother smacked him. The custodian asked when she saw his face was bright red. There appeared to be a large bruise that appeared fresh on the right side of his anterior face as well as above his left orbit in the brow which was swollen and reddened. There appeared to be impressions consistent with finger lines on his left cheek. This was on Tuesday. .- ias told school staff his mother makes him watch movies where people are laying on top of each other naked. He said he closes his eyes. The last three weeks 2- ias had aggressive behavior. He was seen by Adult and Child but recently mom is not letting them into home. He has missed 20 days of school. He is way below average with grades and he is capable of doing better. He appears tired all of the time at school. Bradley talked with the school Nurse Susan Lollar. told Lollar he was stamped on the face. The nurse took pictures of the bruise and forwarded them to McCarty. He is always dirty in appearance. She assists with washing - 3 coat. Lollar knows they have washed it around three times in last month. They do not keep a log of when they wash it. Photos were provided to your af?ant as well. as a head band on his face. He moved it down and she observed the red marks on his face. She asked him what had happened. She could see the hand print on his face. He told her his mom smacked him so hard on the side of his face that he fell down. She stated you could see also where his face made contact with something else when he fell. Bradley talked with the Custodian Carla Collins. Bradley spoke with school counselor, Paula Wright. He cats in her office almost daily. He does better when he is alone. He is dirty and filthy most days. Does not appear he gets showered. He wears the same pants a lot. He comes to school with circles under his eyes most days. Appears he does not get much sleep and he is very tired at school. She noticed the red marks on his face earlier in the week. it looked like blood vessels were broken under the skin. Kind of appeared like finger marks or lines. He told Wright his mom hit him. At first he said he fell. He had his mother's phone and he would not give it back. She then hit him he said causing him to fall. She has concerns for hint. 93 Bradley talked with the Assistant teacher Mandy Bryant. Bryant . riding his bicycle down the middle of Main Cross Street at 8pm a month ago with no adults present. was blocks away from his home. Bryant stopped her car and someone else stopped and pointed him in the direction of his home and told him to go home. Everyone in town knows where he lives because he is always outside and all over the town. They live on a busy street. He is usually very dirty and messy. She saw lots of scratches and bruising on him recently. On February 5. 20l6 Bradley text Meredith asking if ever went to the doctor. Meredith told Bradley he had went. Meredith said her sister Brittany took him yesterday and the doctor told her it was normal bruising for a ?ve year old. Meredith then told Bradley to leave her sister alone and not to talk with her sister. Bradley asked Meredith to be honest about what really happened to 1.12- She said she is being honest and does not know. She was not home. The doctor evensaid he has bruising ofa normal five year old boy. Bradley stated that is not normal bruising and that there was a hand print on his face. She then stated that Bradley does not know her son. He is ADD and the doctor told her sister he probably put it there with how he acts hitting himself and throwing chairs. She then stated she is going to get Bradley for harassment and DCS has been to her house back to back 3 or 4 times this month and nothing is ever wrong. Meredith told Bradley ifhe talks to her underage son again she is going to press charges. -. starving to death. legs look like thin ?ngers instead oflegs. underweight'by 4?5 pounds. Riley reports diagnosis as failing to thrive do to not being fed?" birth weight was 8.6 pounds and on January 31' she weighed 9.8 pounds. hould weigh between 2.5 to 14.9 pounds. has no medical deficiencies to account for the isn?t?being fed. On February 1 l= 20l 6. a search warrant was obtained and executed by your affiant at 500 E. Main Cross Street where your af?ant and other officers as well as Animal Control entered the home and found four dogs were turned over to Animal Control. Your aftiant had an evidence technician, Rick Wilson photograph the home inside and out at your affiants direction. in the downstairs your affiant noted animal urine on the floor. To heat the home your affian?t saw two electronic standalone ?replaces. The natural gas was shut off, lack of payment. Water and sewer were working. Food supply was plentiful for the adults. Infant formula, there were seven sealed cans unopened three small jars of expired baby food all were photographed. One partial can of formula on the kitchen counter and an empty can in the upstairs bedroom. Up a staircase off of the living room led your af?ant to an upstairs bedroom which Meredith claimed as theirs. Your af?ant saw fecal matter in several areas on the floor of . 3 bedroom. No mattress coverings or blankets for The mattress had two sizable black areas which appeared to be black mold. Your af?ant found pull?tab sty cans of food under bed with dirty bowls. In the box springs were several dishes of dirty dishes. The floor was ?lthy and no smoke detectors were seen. No clean clothes were seen anywhere upstairs, dirty clothes were on the floor. ln the next room your affiant saw two baby beds and another mattress for Meredith. A kitchen style tall trash can was over flowing onto the floor with dirty diapers. Numerous empty used Polar pop cups and Buffalo Wild Wings cups next to Meredith?s bed with a package ofcookies. In the baby beds were several toys, stuffed animals and other debris. All of which isn?t proper bedding for an infant adhering to the national back to sleep program in an attempt to avoid infant deaths. swear or affirm under the penalty of perjury as specified in lC 35~44?2~l that the foregoing representations are true. (1C 3540/19 . - w- a" Judge of Court of Johnson County Attorney