Kokomo woman expected to plead guilty to neglect

Jan. 27—Court documents filed through the Howard County Clerk's Office indicate that a Kokomo woman is expected to plead guilty next month in the April 2021 death of her 10-month-old son.

Nicole Groleau, 30, was originally arrested last summer on a single count of battery with death to a person under 14 years of age, a Level 2 felony, and two counts of battery resulting in bodily injury to a person under 14 years of age, both Level 5 felonies, for her role in the incident.

According to the Howard County Prosecutor's Office, a new charge — a Level 5 felony charge of neglect of a dependent — was filed earlier this week in the case, and that is the charge that Groleau will plead guilty to during her upcoming sentencing hearing.

The other three charges, if the plea deal is accepted by the judge, will be dismissed at that time, per court documents.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred on or around April 25, 2021, police reports noted at the time.

That's when police were dispatched to Groleau's residence in the 1600 block of Rue Royale North shortly before 1 p.m. and were taken into a rear den area, where they observed Groleau's 10-month-old son Ace lying on the floor with only a diaper on.

Police also observed "bruises to Ace's forehead and the sides of his face and temple area," according to a probable cause affidavit, as well as "bruising under the child's chin and neck area that looked like fingerprints."

The child was then transported to an area hospital, where the nurses on scene also pointed out "suspicious bruising," with several of the bruises appearing to be in various stages of healing, while others appeared to be as fresh as one or two days old, court documents noted.

During her interview with police shortly after the child was pronounced dead, Groleau stated she was at work and heard the dispatch come over the radio and that she didn't know where the bruises around the infant's neck came from, the affidavit stated.

Investigators also interviewed one of Groleau's family members, who was also the infant's babysitter at the time, and he told authorities that Groleau was "verbally abusive" but that he had never seen her hurt her child.

However, he did state that Groleau allegedly offered to have him raise the child as long as she got the "tax credit," and he believed that Groleau didn't want the child anymore.

The relative also told police that the bruises on the child's head were from a previous falling incident in which he was holding the baby's hands while they were walking together, but when he inquired about the bruises on the child's neck, Groleau would not tell him how they happened, the affidavit indicated.

Later on in his interview, the relative also spoke about April 25, telling police that he had given the baby a bottle, and the pair sat down on the couch together.

A few minutes later, the relative woke up to the baby crying and kicking, per his police interview in the affidavit, and the baby also sounded like he had "water in his lungs."

On April 28, police interviewed a man who stated that he had been a previous babysitter and noticed that Groleau had "anger issues" and could be "triggered quickly" when it came to the infant, the affidavit noted.

He also told authorities in his statement to them that he had seen Groleau shake the infant on at least three occasions, the affidavit indicated, with Groleau on one such occasion telling her child that "I'm going to give you shaking baby syndrome."

A few days later, police interviewed Groleau for a second time, and the affidavit indicated that she continued to deny shaking the infant or having knowledge where the bruises around his chin and neck came from.

If the plea is accepted, the state is recommending that Groleau be sentenced to a fixed term of six years in the Indiana Department of Correction, with a cap of four years in jail and credit for time served.

The balance of that sentence would then be suspended to supervised probation or — if the court decides — in-home detention or work release.

Groleau's sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 24 inside Howard Superior Court 4.

Kim Dunlap can be reached at 765-860-3256 or at kim.dunlap@kokomotribune.com.