A 9-year-old Kentucky girl was “locked outside” her home for 17 hours after her mother returned intoxicated from a party and forgot the child was following behind her, police say.
Ashland Killebrew’s daughter told investigators she repeatedly pounded on the front door of the family’s Hopkinsville home in an attempt to get her mother’s attention after the two returned from a party where Killebrew had been drinking, according to the Hopkinsville Police Department. No one answered.
An arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime states that Killebrew arrived home with her daughter around 10 p.m. Thursday. Police say she walked inside, left the child outside and then forgot she was there.
“Killebrew stated that she returned home from a party with her 9-year-old daughter at approximately … then locked the door and was so intoxicated that she passed out inside, thinking that her daughter was with her,” the arrest report alleges. “When she woke up, she could not find her daughter in the house and called 911.”
Authorities say Killebrew did not realize her daughter was missing until Friday morning.
“When she woke up, she could not find her daughter in the house and called 911,” the arrest report states. “Officers located and talked to her daughter, who stated that the door was locked. The daughter beat on the door with no answer multiple times.”
Investigators concluded that the girl had been “locked outside for approximately 17 hours,” per the arrest report.
Killebrew was taken into custody and charged with second-degree criminal abuse or neglect of a child under 12. She is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 2 for a preliminary hearing.