Amber Nicole Vannatter Fort Wayne, Indiana woman admits to burning baby w/ lighter, holding child’s face to treadmill while it was running. Claims she was depressed.
Why? An Indiana woman has admitted to burning her friend’s infant daughter with a lighter and holding the child’s face against a treadmill while it was on.
Amber Nicole Vannatter, 20, of Fort Wayne, is facing three counts of battery and three counts of neglect of a dependent less than 14 after allegedly admitting to the abuse, according to court documents obtained by WXIN.
An investigation was launched Friday when cops responded to a report of possible child abuse at a hospital in Muncie, where the girl’s mother said Vannatter had been watching her daughter at the woman’s home while she was at work, police said.
The infant — who is almost one year old — was dropped off late Friday at her mother’s workplace with friction burns to her torso and face, as well as burns caused by a cigarette lighter, the Muncie Star Press reports.
Vannatter later admitted abusing the child ‘because she was depressed and the baby was crying,’ the Muncie Star reports, citing Muncie Police Det. Kris Swanson.
Child will likely have scarring from her injuries
Amber Vannatter, who was arrested early Saturday, initially gave conflicting accounts as to how the infant sustained injuries. During the course of police questioning, the woman admitted to holding the girl’s face against a treadmill as it was running and burning her on the neck and arms with a lighter when she started crying, court documents show.
Vannatter confessed to burning the girl during two separate incidents but denied hitting her, WXIN reports.
The infant, who also reportedly had a broken wrist, was treated in an emergency department before being released, Swanson told the Muncie Star Press. She will likely have scarring from her injuries, WXIN reports.
Vannatter remained in custody Tuesday at a Delaware County jail in lieu of $60,000 bond, online records show. It’s unclear if she’s hired an attorney who could speak on her behalf.
