An Indiana mother has been charged with neglect of a dependent causing death after her 3-year-old son drowned in a family friend’s pool while she was allegedly passed out drunk on a patio chair nearby.
Amie Jo Farber, 41, is accused of drinking five 25-ounce cans of Bud Ice “Big Ones” over roughly two hours before the drowning, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit, WEHT reported.
The Evansville Police Department responded around 4:44 p.m. Saturday to a home in the 1200 block of N. Second Avenue after a boy was found unresponsive in a backyard pool. Officers performed lifesaving measures before paramedics took the child to a hospital, where he later died. He has not been publicly identified.
According to the affidavit, the homeowner told police that Farber, a family acquaintance, arrived around 2:30 p.m. and asked if her son could swim. The homeowner agreed on the condition that Farber watch the boy, noting he was aware of her drinking problem and that she already appeared intoxicated when she showed up.
The boy swam on a floatie while Farber and the homeowner sat outside together. The homeowner said he went inside for about 10 minutes, and when he returned, he found Farber “passed out” in a patio chair. The boy was nowhere in sight, and his floatie had flipped over in the water.
The child was discovered floating face down in the pool. The homeowner pulled him out, shouted for someone to call 911, and began CPR. “She passed out drunk,” a woman was heard yelling during the 911 call, according to police.
Investigators say Farber consumed five of the oversized Bud Ice cans during the roughly two hours she was at the home. She allegedly told officers she had gotten into the pool briefly before getting out and lying down in a patio chair, where she “must’ve fallen asleep.”
“This is all my fault,” she reportedly told police, without further explanation.
Officers collected a blood sample from Farber before booking her into the Vandenburgh County Jail. She is being held on a $25,000 bond, with a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
The investigation remains ongoing, and further details about the charges are expected to be presented at the upcoming hearing.