Mom Arrested for Neglecting Daughter in Sweltering Heat

An Evansville mom, 30-year-old Lissandra Denis, faces neglect charges after leaving her daughter outside without food or water for several hours as the heat index soared over 100 degrees. According to police, officers were called to an apartment complex on the city's southeast side around 7:19 p.m. Sunday after a caller reported seeing a young child screaming for her mother.

When they arrived, officers spoke with a witness who was taking care of the girl at the time. She and two other witnesses told police the girl had been outside as early as 7 a.m. and had been in the heat for several hours. EPD says it was 96 degrees when officers arrived, and the heat index Sunday was around 101 degrees.

Denis did not return to check on her child, according to witnesses at the scene. At some point during the day, a probable cause affidavit says the girl tried getting back into the apartment, but the door was locked. That was when the girl started screaming for her mother, and someone called 911.

While officers met with witnesses, Denis and some of her friends arrived, asking what the officers were doing. After locating a translator to help communicate with Denis, she told officers she'd been doing laundry and let her daughter play outside while she went to check on her clothes. Police say they "repeatedly asked her what time she started laundry, but (Denis) would continuously change the subject and would not answer that question."

Department of Child Services was called, and the father later arrived to take the girl home with him. Denis was arrested and booked into the Vanderburgh County jail on charges of neglect of a dependent.