HAMILTON COUNTY — A woman accused of abandoning her son in Hamilton County remains booked Kentucky jail Monday but is expected to return to Ohio later this week to face charges in the incident, according to investigators.
Heather Adkins, 32, of Shelbyville, Indiana is accused of driving about 75 miles from her home and dropping off her 6-year-old son in Colerain Twp., in northern Hamilton County.
The boy, whose name is Thomas, recently turned six according to the child’s grandmother. Police said Thomas has Autism and is non-verbal.
In a 911 call, a caller reported that their daughter’s boyfriend saw a child on the road waving down cars. Thomas was found wandering alone on a road with no sidewalk and without a coat in the rain around 9 p.m. Thursday. A driver stopped and took Thomas into his car while they waited on police to arrive.
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“I immediately stopped and I was like, ‘wait a minute, this isn’t normal,” Ron Reese, the man who found the wandering boy told CBS affiliate WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky.
Adkins was later located and arrested in Scott County, Kentucky.
Adkins talked with WKTY-TV in a jailhouse interview in which she changed her version of the story a few times. When asked if she left the child with someone, Akins replied, “I meant to leave him there with Patty.”
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“No I left him there with Brad, didn’t I?” Adkins replied when she was later asked, for a second time, if she had left her son with someone.
The reporter with WKYT-TV continued to ask Adkins questions and she responded with contradictory answers about who she left her son with. She eventually said, “No, I didn’t leave him with anyone,” according to WKYT-TV.
When asked by the reporter why Adkins abandoned the child she responded: “To save him from me,” according to the station.
Adkins’ case draws similarities with another local case that happened just over a year ago, when Middletown boy James Hutchinson was killed by his mother while she attempted to abandon him and his siblings at a Preble County park.
Hutchinson was killed by his mother Brittany Gosney before she and her boyfriend James Hamilton dumped the boy’s body in the Ohio River, where his remains have not been recovered.
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Gosney pleaded guilty in August to charges including murder and for attempting to cover it up. She was sentenced in September to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 21 years.
Hamilton also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the cover-up and was sentenced to at least 15 years in jail.
In the case of Hutchinson’s murder, court documents outlined Gosney claiming she tried to give up custody of her three kids before deciding to abandon them.
The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services said Ohio parents have resources if they feel overwhelmed with caring for a child.
“If a parent feels overwhelmed, they can contact children services and either request to surrender their child or children services can choose to open a supportive services case to assist the family. If the child has special needs, parents can contact their local Department of Developmental Disabilities,” and ODJFS spokesperson said in a statement to News Center 7.
This is a developing story and we’ll update this page as we learn more.
We have identified this child and are continuing to investigate this incident. Thanks to concerned residents who called...
Posted by Colerain Police on Friday, February 18, 2022
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