A 32-year-old Indiana woman has been charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death after her 22-month-old daughter was found unresponsive in a bathtub, as reported by Law&Crime. Amanda B. Lane was taken into custody after the child, Juliana Lucille Payton, was pronounced dead at Indiana University Health.
Emergency crews went to a home in the 200 block of West Hancock Avenue around 12:00 PM last week after a 911 call about an unresponsive toddler. Court documents reportedly say the child had severe burns over her entire body, with her skin blistered and peeling from head to toe.
Indiana State Police searched the home and found that the water in the bathtub where the child was discovered measured 118 degrees. Investigators built a timeline from statements given by the toddler’s father and by a witness who was at the home earlier that morning.
She was only supposed to be in there for a little while
The witness said she put the toddler in the tub with about one or two inches of water because Lane asked her to. She said she left the home around 10:30 AM while the child was playing in the water, and that she made sure Lane knew the girl was in the tub. Leaving young children alone has led to criminal charges in other cases, including one where a baby was found unresponsive in her crib.
Communication records suggest the witness tried to check on the child at 10:44 AM. Lane allegedly did not respond until 11:24 AM, when she reportedly wrote, “I can’t get her out, and she’s p****d.” When the witness offered to get more help, Lane allegedly told her, “Don’t worry about it” and “I got it.”
The father told detectives he had been at a court hearing that morning and then went to a grocery store with his ex-girlfriend. He said he got home around 12:00 PM and asked Lane, who was sitting in a back room, where their daughter was. Lane allegedly told him the child was in the bathtub.
The father said he ran to the bathroom and found the toddler floating facedown in the water, lifeless and unresponsive. He said he screamed for his ex-girlfriend to call 911 and then ran to a neighbor’s home, where he reportedly yelled that his daughter was gone.
The father said he and Lane had been together for about four years, and he claimed she was acting normally before he left that morning. Prosecutors have filed charges against parents accused of neglecting their toddlers before, including a mother accused of leaving her children without food. Lane is being held at the Lawrence County Jail, and it is not yet clear when her next court appearance will be.
Published: Nov 11, 2026 05:45 pm