A woman who went out with her boyfriend to buy drugs instead of checking on her daughter was arrested.
Brittany C. Chambers, 20, from Cedar Lake, Indiana, was charged Monday, June 24, with two counts of felony neglect regarding the death of Elliana Orgon, her 6-month-old daughter, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Chambers noticed something was wrong with Elliana on June 20, but did not check on her and instead went out with her boyfriend to buy drugs. It wasn’t until the next day, after awakening at about 2 p.m., that she noticed the child wasn’t breathing and was all cold and stiff, that she warned the police.
Lake Criminal Court records say, the police arrived Friday to the house, which belonged to the boyfriend, in the 700 block of Main Street in Crown Point, and they observed that Elliana was already dead and in rigor mortis.
According to court records, the police found in the bedroom, where Elliana’s playpen stood, drug paraphernalia, trash, and animal feces. The floor was covered with broken items and an undefined sticky liquid that stuck to the officers’ shoes. It smelled like feces and pee. The playpen was broken and filled with clothes.
Lake Criminal Court records state that the child had suffered two dislocated shoulders, four broken ribs, a ruptured cervical vertebrae, and multiple head injuries. The injuries were likely caused by blunt force trauma 12 to 14 hours before the moment police arrived at about 2 p.m. the next day.
Elliana had suffered an injury previously that required hospitalization, and Chambers signed an agreement in March with the Department of Child Services in which she promised to prevent Elliana from coming into contact with the boyfriend, court records say.
This corroborates with the Facebook posts Chambers uploaded on March 11 and 12, that shows Elliana hospitalized and connected to all kinds of tubes and wires. Chambers wrote:
“Im so sorry lil mama. You are strong I know you will get through this. Youre my little fighter, just remember that. God has answered my prayers before which is why your name is Elliana. God is right by your side baby girl, and I’m on the other side.”
Chambers confessed to investigators that she had left Elianna at her boyfriend’s care—a violation of the agreement she made with the DCS—when she went out to drop her other child, her 2-year-old son, at his father’s.
The boyfriend put Elianna in the car seat, and they drove off to Gary to purchase some drugs. Chambers successfully scored an amount of synthetic marijuana which the couple smoked at the boyfriend’s Crown Point home, where they stayed the night.
Crown Point Police Chief Pete Land said that probably more arrests will follow, “Our detectives are continuing in their aggressive and thorough follow-ups. We won’t stop until anyone that may have had a role in this child’s death is brought to justice,” the Northwest Indiana reported.
Chambers is held on a $50,000 bail. According to records, to date, the boyfriend has not been charged in connection with Elliana’s death.
