Mother of 2 faces neglect charges

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GREENFIELD — A Greenfield mother was arrested after neighbors found her 1-year-old and 3-year-old wandering in the street outside her home, naked, and dialed 911.

Jennifer Luker, 28, was arrested Wednesday morning after prosecutors filed neglect charges based on three separate incidents involving her children, reports state. She faces two counts of neglect of a dependent, a Level 6 felony carrying a penalty range of six months to two and a half years and up to $10,000 in fines.

Police were called to Luker’s home in the 200 block of West Walnut Street on June 18 after a neighbor reported finding the children in the street. The neighbor told police she saw the 3-year-old jumping up and down on a parked car, while the 1-year-old was in the middle of the road, according to court documents.

When police arrived, they found the children — one with no clothes — in the front yard, court records state. Police noticed the front door to their home was open and went inside, where they found Luker and a man asleep upstairs, according to court documents. The man told police the children aren’t his, and he doesn’t live at the home.

Luker, who admitted to having smoked spice earlier in the day, said she and the man had fallen asleep about an hour before police arrived; she said she left the children on the couch in the living room before falling asleep, documents state.

Police notified the Indiana Department of Child Services after the incident; Luker was not arrested at the time, reports state.

About a week later, the Indiana Department of Child Services received a tip that the children had been found naked and alone outside the home again; Luker’s speech was slurred, and she appeared to be impaired, court documents state.

The children’s grandmother made the third report to police the following day after Luker picked up the children from her home; one of the children began crying and running from his mother, and Luker grabbed him under his arm and dragged him to her car, court documents state.

When officers arrived, the grandmother told police Luker smoked spice in front of her children; she previously flooded her apartment after passing out from smoking the drug, court records state.

Police went to Luker’s home on Walnut Street to check on the children; when they arrived, Luker did not appear to be intoxicated, according to court records. She admitted she had passed out the night before after smoking marijuana, documents state.

Luker was arrested Wednesday morning and released from jail later that day on no bond.