MCCORDSVILLE — An Indianapolis man told police he used a dinner plate and a dollar bill to snort narcotics not far from his son’s crib. Days later, the 8-month-old tested positive for cocaine after being rushed to a hospital, court documents said.
Kevin Bunch, 40, 5735 Blue Spruce Drive, Indianapolis, was arrested Tuesday and faces a single count of neglect of a dependent causing injury. The charge — a Level 5 felony — carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison.
The child’s mother brought the baby to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis earlier this month because he had a high fever and was vomiting, court documents state. Doctors at the facility ran tests and determined the baby had ingested cocaine, court documents state.
When police and caseworkers from the Indiana Department of Child Services came to investigate, the child’s mother told them she’d let Bunch look after the boy at her McCordsville home the day before, court documents state.
Bunch initially refused to speak with officers during the investigation and would not submit to a drug test. After the baby was released from the hospital, Bunch came to the McCordsville Police Department for an interview, during which he admitted to using cocaine about two weeks before his son became sick, court documents said.
Bunch told detectives the child wasn’t home at the time, but he had used the drugs near where the baby slept and played, court documents state. A drug-sniffing dog later found drug residue inside the house, court documents state.
The child’s mother told police she’d left the baby alone with Bunch during the evening on July 31, court documents state. The next morning, the baby had a 101-degree fever and fits of vomiting, and she made an appointment with his pediatrician, she told investigators.
The child was examined at Hancock Pediatrics in Greenfield around 10 a.m. Aug. 1, court records state.
The woman said doctors there let her take the baby home, telling her to monitor him and ensure he had lots of fluids. But she said she received a call from the pediatrician around 4 p.m. the same day, advising her to take her son to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital immediately, according to court documents.
The little boy was admitted to to the hospital about an hour later on Aug. 1, records show. Specialists there performed tests and determined the baby had cocaine in his system, but he was alert and expected to recover, according to court documents.
The child’s mother, who was at the hospital with the baby when police arrived, said she did not use narcotics and complied with investigators’ request for a drug screen, court documents state. She told the hospital staff the baby “had been vomiting on and off for months,” according to court documents.
Bunch already had left the hospital by the time investigators arrived, records show. When officers called him and spoke with him briefly over the phone that day, he initially refused to return to the hospital and said he would not submit to a drug screen or an interview, court documents state. A few days later, however, he contacted detectives and agreed to speak with them.
During an interview at the McCordsville Police Department, Bunch told police he’d used cocaine in the McCordsville home in mid-July when the baby and the child’s mother were away on a vacation, court documents state.
He told officers he used a dollar bill and a dinner plate to snort the drugs, court documents state. He said he was in the family room at the time, not far from where his son’s crib was set up and where the baby usually plays, court documents state.
Bunch told police that was the only time he’d used cocaine at the McCordsville home, court documents state. He told police he’d never seen the child’s mother use cocaine, court documents state.
A Hancock County K-9 officer was used to search the McCordsville home as part of the investigation. The dog found drug residue in the home’s master bedroom, but no narcotics were found inside the house, court documents state.
Bunch was being held in the Hancock County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond at press time. He is expected to make his first court appearance later this week.