Mom accused of fatally neglecting 5-year-old daughter had previous neglect conviction
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH-TV) — The mom accused in the death of her 5-year-old daughter had a previous history of neglecting her children.
News 8 as of Thursday afternoon did not have specific details about the neglect that led to the death of the 5-year-old girl earlier this week, but we know that Toni McClure was arrested in 2018 for neglecting her children.
A Mooresville Police Department officer in court documents described living conditions inside McClure’s 2018 home as one of the worst living conditions he had seen, with dirt, trash, cigarette butts, and moldy food everywhere. Police also found several dirty kids with diaper rashes.
One of the kids that officers found was a 3-week-old child who was later evaluated by doctors to be failing to thrive and needing food. The Indiana Department of Child Services took custody of the kids.
In that case, McClure took a plea deal in 2020. She served 21 days in jail and was ordered to take parenting classes as part of her probation. She later violated that probation, but was only ordered to pay a fine.
On Tuesday , Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were directed to a mobile home in southwest Indy. They found the 5-year-old girl unresponsive. The girl was taken to a hospital, where she died.
The age of the child matches the age of the 3-week-old child from the previous child neglect case, but police have not confirmed if they are the same child.
McClure and her boyfriend, Ryan Smith, were arrested for child neglect resulting in death. Again, the Indiana Department of Child Services took custody of other children who were living in the home.
On Thursday afternoon, it was unclear how or when McClure regained custody of her children from the Department of Child Services following her 2022 conviction for child neglect.
I-Team 8 called the Morgan County Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday to find out why his office gave McClure a plea deal for the case of child neglect in 2018, but no one returned the call.
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