Ex-Richmond woman convicted of neglect charges stemming from 2-year-old boy's death
RICHMOND, Ind. — A Wayne Superior Court 2 jury on Thursday found a former Richmond woman guilty of three charges stemming from a 2-year-old boy's 2019 death.
Pamela J. Barger, 65 — more recently of Carlisle in southwestern Indiana — was convicted of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony carrying up to 40 years in prison.
She was also found guilty of two other neglect charges, Level 6 felonies carrying up to 30 months in prison. The jury found Barget not guilty of an aggravated battery count.
Judge Gregory Horn ordered Barger held in the Wayne County Jail as she awaits an April 19 sentencing hearing.
Last year, a co-defendant — Todd Michael Volker, 56, most recently of Centerville — was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in death.
Barger — who ran a babysitting service in the Richmond home she then shared with Volker — was accused of not promptly seeking medical care for the child, who was suffered a severe head injury while in her care.
Physicians at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis said a blunt force trauma injury to the boy's head, which led to his death, was the result of abuse.
Barger claimed the child was injured when he tripped while she was changing his clothes.
Investigators said the Richmond woman called Volker after the 2-year-old boy lost consciousness, and that he then tried to resuscitate the boy before taking him to Reid Hospital.
Phone records and hospital security video show 51 minutes elapsed between Barger's call to Volker and the child arriving at the Richmond hospital.
Volker is now incarcerated at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility and has a projected release date in March 2040, according to a state Department of Correction website.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ex-Richmond woman convicted of charges stemming from child's death
