INDIANAPOLIS -- The parents of a 2-month-old have been arrested about eight months after their baby died.
William Anthony Moss and Janet Ringer have been arrested and preliminarily charged with neglect resulting in death, a felony.
Ruth Ringer died in August from malnutrition and dehydration, the Marion County Coroner determined.
In January, a woman who knows the family said she believes the child would still be alive if the Department of Child Services had taken her complaints seriously.
“From the minute she was born she suffered and died," Carrie Upchurch said.
Upchurch, whose adoptive daughter is believed to be Ruth Ringer’s older sister, said she called DCS on three separate occasions to report concerns about the infant’s safety starting when she was first born.
“Not only did they fail to protect this child from abuse or neglect but they did it so far that this child died,” Upchurch said.
After the infant's death, Upchurch said she filed a complaint with the DCS Ombudsman Bureau - the bureau that oversees DCS.
“I was ignored repeatedly,” Upchurch said in January. “They never completed an investigation – kept saying there was no danger to this child. By the time they found her dead it was too late.”
The Ombudsman Bureau completed their investigation and are monitoring the department after their findings showed that staffers did not properly complete assessments involving Ringer's welfare. A state investigator also found staffers failed to report or follow up on concerns about the infant or address "mitigating factors" surrounding the child's welfare during their assessment phase.
DCS spokeswoman Noelle Russell released the following statement Thursday afternoon:
"There is nothing more heartbreaking than the death of a child, and we at the Indiana Department of Child Services mourn Ruth's loss along with our community. State confidentiality laws prohibit DCS from commenting on the specifics of any case. DCS strives to protect the most vulnerable among us, and we will continue to work tirelessly to keep Hoosier children safe."
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