Cops: Baby found in cold near drunk mom

LAFAYETTE, Ind - A 30-year-old Lafayette woman has been has been accused of passing out drunk behind a house while carrying her one-year-old daughter.

Vivian E. Hampton is under arrest at the Tippecanoe County Jail.

Police say they received a 9-1-1 call after midnight Wednesday from a man living in the 1300 block of Burroughs Street.

"While he was on the phone with us, the female went around the side of the house, and subsequently dropped the child a couple of times, while he was on the phone to our dispatchers," said Lafayette Police Detective Mark Pinkard. "Within seconds our officers arrived on the scene and discovered the female passed out in his backyard and the child, who was a very young child, crawling around with very few clothes on. It was cold and damp."

The temperature outside was just 43 degrees with a wind chill of 38.

When police arrived at the scene, an officer picked up the child and wrapped her in a blanket. She stopped crying immediately. Police say she was wearing a small dress, and her diaper was full and needed changing. She was barefoot and covered in mud from crawling around her mother.

Hampton was wearing a heavy winter coat that had been zipped shut, according to police.

Detective Pinkard said the child did suffer minor injuries. She was taken to Home Hospital where her body temperature measured at 96 degrees. She also suffered a small bump above her left eye and two small red marks on her left cheek.

The one-year-old is now in foster care.

According to court documents, an officer attempted to wake up Hampton and described the woman as "extremely intoxicated." Hampton was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital for treatment and then was jailed on neglect and public intoxication.

Police said an officer found a baby stroller against a garage on Burroughs Street and in the stroller was a half empty bottle of cherry vodka.

Hampton is still in jail with her bond set at $25,000. Her initial trial date will be in October.

Court records show Hampton's parental rights to a 5-year-old son were terminated in 2007 after her conviction for neglect resulting in bodily injury. Those charges stem from an incident in April 2005. She was sentenced to four years. About one year of that was ordered to be spent in jail, the remainder probation.