Background: The apartment building in Newton, Iowa, where Angelia Varner”s baby fell (Google Maps). Inset: Angelia Varner (Jasper County Sheriff’s Office).
Angelia Varner, 35, admitted guilt to charges of felony neglect of a dependent person this Monday, following an incident where her 23-month-old child fell from a second-story window of their apartment on August 14. Fortunately, the child sustained only minor injuries. As previously reported by Law & Crime, Varner had temporarily placed her 9-year-old in charge of her younger siblings while she stepped out to the parking lot for a brief moment.
During her absence, neighbors witnessed the young child plummet 12 feet from the window, according to police reports.
Authorities noted that the toddler suffered from “abrasions and bruising” to the head but was not critically injured. Inside the apartment, officers discovered a torn screen on the window from which the toddler fell. The landlord of the property claimed that Varner had never requested repairs for the screen. Varner acknowledged the tear, stating she left the window open to help “cool” the apartment.
Witnesses informed the police that they frequently saw Varner’s children playing dangerously close to the open window or leaning out of it. They also reported seeing the children unsupervised outside the apartment.
Neighbors told police they often saw Varner’s three children “play at the open window and/or lean out of it.” They also saw the children playing unattended outside the apartment.
Varner was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to one charge of felony neglect of a dependent person.
She also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of felony neglect of a dependent person in connection with an incident on Sept. 25. According to reporting by local news outlet KNIA/KRLS, Varner fell asleep in her bedroom after leaving the stove on. She closed the bedroom door and left her two younger children unattended while smoke from the oven filled the apartment. Her oldest child was found outside the apartment, trying to get someone to open the door. Varner was sentenced to the same probation term.
