COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WHDH) — A woman is facing charges after prosecutors say she abandoned her non-verbal, 5-year-old son on a dangerous road in the pouring rain in Colerain Township, Ohio.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters announced Friday the indictment of Heather Adkins, 32, on one count of kidnapping and one count of child endangerment.
A citizen spotted Adkins’ non-verbal child alone and soaking wet from the rain on Sheed Road on Feb. 17, according to the prosecuting attorney’s office.
An investigation revealed that Adkins and another adult had driven her three children to Tazewell, Tennessee, where they dropped two of the three children off at a friend’s house, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
Adkins and the other adult then allegedly drove toward Indiana with her 5-year-old boy in the car before pulling off the highway and onto Copper Creek Lane in Colerain Township, Ohio, where the boy was said to be removed from the vehicle.
Adkins and the other adult proceeded to drive away, abandoning the boy, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
“It’s heartbreaking to imagine what this non-verbal, 5-year-old boy went through. I’m certain he was confused and hurt. His mother, being the person with whom he totally depended upon, dumps him on a dangerous road – in the pouring rain – to fend for himself, 70 miles from his home,” Deters said in a statement. “Disgusting is the only word that comes to mind. And people question my belief that there are some out there who should never be parents.”
If Adkins is convicted on all charges against her, she faces a maximum possible sentence of 11 years.
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