Deana Nicole Byrd taught kids to snort pills: Cops – A mother of three in Indiana said she came home and found her three children unconscious after their 24-year-old babysitter had allegedly taught them “how to snort pills,” authorities said.
Deana Nicole Byrd was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with three counts each of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, dealing a controlled substance with enhancing circumstances, and one count of theft, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Deana Nicole Byrd (Vanderburgh County Jail)Deana Nicole Byrd taught kids to snort pills: Cops
According to a probable cause statement, officers with the Evansville Police Department and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to a home at about 5:21 p.m. on Wednesday in the 100 block of Althaus Avenue on a call regarding three children needing medical assistance. The caller said she just arrived at the babysitter’s home who was watching her children, 8, 9, and 15, and found them unconscious.
The children were hospitalized and have recovered.
Medics revived the two younger children. When they regained consciousness, both kids “were stumbling and falling when trying to get into the ambulance.” The 15-year-old was unconscious when she was put into an ambulance. One of the younger children allegedly told an officer Byrd, their babysitter, had given them some of her pills.
During a search of the home, authorities said they found several orange pill capsules that were broken in half on the bedroom dresser. Nearby was a white powdery substance and a “rolled-up Ramen noodle cup lid.”
The kids’ mother told police she had dropped them off at Byrd’s house at about 10:30 p.m. the previous night and told Byrd she’d be back to pick them up at about 5 p.m. the following day when she got off work. She said she didn’t hear from the kids or Byrd all day. When she arrived at the home, Byrd was alone on the front porch, seemingly “impaired” and “speaking very softly.”
