Inset: Sarah Vicker (Madison County Detention Center). Background: The Revival Tabernacle church in Richmond, Kentucky (Google Maps).
Authorities report that a Kentucky woman, Sarah Vicker, left her young child without food in an empty apartment, penned a goodbye note to her partner, and then made her way to a church.
Vicker, aged 34, is facing charges related to the abuse of a child aged 12 or under, as well as the abandonment of a minor, according to records from the Hamilton County jail, which were examined by Law&Crime.
The incident unfolded on Wednesday.
According to court documents obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader, the series of events began at approximately 9 a.m. when Vicker fed her 1-year-old daughter in their Richmond apartment on Villa Drive.
Roughly two hours later, it is alleged that Vicker left her daughter in a playpen beside a 65-inch television, without providing any additional food, wrote a farewell letter to her partner, and departed the premises.
Authorities noted that she left the apartment door unlocked as she exited.
About two hours later, Richmond police officers tracked her down at the Revival Tabernacle church, which is about a mile and a half away from Villa Drive. The mother reportedly had a simple reasoning for doing what she”d done.
“My flesh and spirit could not take it no longer, so I left,” Vicker allegedly told officers.
According to Lexington-based CBS affiliate WKYT, police learned Vicker had walked to the church.
“They did find a 1-year-old child left in this person’s apartment that had just been abandoned,” Makenzie Davis, Richmond Police executive assistant told the TV station. “The child was alone in a playpen along with a note saying that the mother had intended to leave.”
“Overall, the situation with the door unlocked just made it very unsafe for the child,” Davis added.
Vicker was booked into the Madison County Jail on Wednesday and placed on a $10,000 bond.
She was scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
