An Indianapolis woman, 27-year-old Tenisha Ann Echols, was controversially sentenced to two years of home detention followed by two years of probation after her 6-month-old daughter died in 2019. Now, six years later, she has been accused of leaving her four children alone for weeks, violating her probation.
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According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, Echols was arrested on Monday, June 9, and charged with multiple counts of child neglect. The day before, Echols’ grandmother reportedly called 911 after she was called by her eight-year-old granddaughter.
Distressed, the girl had called her grandmother because she and her siblings, ages 6, 2, and 4 months old, had been left alone for most of the previous two weeks.
Upon arrival, police found the Troy Avenue apartment unlocked. Inside, they were met with a copious amount of half-eaten food and trash “all over the floor.” The children’s beds were only mattresses, and the apartment showed evidence that “an adult hadn’t been around in days.”
The eight-year-old allegedly told police that her mother, Echols, generally leaves her alone to care for her children. Echols did not answer her phone, despite her daughter calling her multiple times, as per the affidavit.
‘About 20 Minutes’
Eventually, Echols came back to the apartment. She claimed she had gone to buy medicine for one of her children. The mother was handcuffed and agreed to speak with detectives.
Echols claimed she had only been gone for “about 20 minutes.” However, when confronted with her daughter’s claims, she allegedly admitted to leaving them alone all day. Allegedly, she said that “she doesn’t feel like dragging them all out of the house at once.”
The children were removed from the Troy Avenue apartment and were placed in their grandmother’s custody.
As previously stated, at the time of Echols’ arrest, she was on probation for the 2019 death of her six-month-old daughter, De’Reya. As per WRTV, the toddler tested positive for cocaine at the time. Her autopsy revealed she suffered skull fractures, rib fractures, arm and foot burns, eye bleeding, and possible tibia fractures.
Two years after De’Reya’s death, Echols was charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily harm. However, as part of a plea agreement, the neglect of a dependent resulting in death charge was dropped.
Shockingly, contrary to the Marion County prosecutors’ wishes, Tenisha Ann Echols did not spend any time in prison. She was sentenced to two years of home detention followed by two years of probation.
As she has been charged with neglect while on probation, she will be held in pretrial detention without bond until her next court appearance in July 8, as per Law & Crime.