Indiana woman charged with neglect after infant son’s leg partially amputated due to frostbite

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana woman whose infant son suffered frostbite so severe last winter one of his legs had to be partially amputated has been charged with felony neglect, authorities said.

Brittney Dickens, 33, of Elkhart, was charged Thursday with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury. Online court records do not list an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

According to court records, police were called to an Elkhart hospital in December after Dickens brought her son to its emergency room with frostbite and a host of potentially life-threatening ailments, The Elkhart Truth reported Saturday.

The boy, who was just under three months old, had severe frostbite on his right foot and a severe infection that had entered his bloodstream, requiring his right leg to be amputated below the knee, police said.

Dickens told officers she didn’t know how her son got frostbite, police said.

The baby was suffering from severe malnutrition, dehydration, septic shock, renal failure and other ailments, police said. He was also covered in dirt and caked in human waste. He was moved to foster care in late December.