Taylor Lynn Creech

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before Taylor was born family members said DCS had removed two of Janele Creech's other children because of her drug use. In November 2010, Janele's sisters turned to Janele's probation officer and DCS, reporting Taylor was in danger because their sister was making and using methamphetamine around her new baby. DCS to send a caseworker to Creech's home. But when no one answered the door, the worker left a card with a note asking Creech to call the agency. She didn't. Instead, Creech basically went into hiding, avoiding contact with her family. Creech subsequently failed a mandatory probation department drug test on Dec. 23, 2010, but a warrant for her arrest was not issued for an additional week and probation officials did not notify DCS. Three days after a judge issued the warrant for Creech's arrest, she still had not been picked up for the probation violation or contacted by DCS and Taylor was dead.

Taylor awoke in her crib crying at about 4 a.m. She was picked up by her mother’s boyfriend Travis Wonderly and brought to the bedroom Creech gave her daughter a bottle. Wonderly took Taylor to a couch inside. Wonderly told police both he and Creech smoked methamphetamine that night lay on his back, put the baby on his chest and went to sleep. He awoke to Creech screaming at about 8:45 a.m. Taylor never woke up again. Taylor was rushed to a Whitley County Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Workers at Parkview Whitley County Hospital called 911 Monday morning about a hysterical parent. Columbia City Police responded first to the hospital then to Creech’s home. Indiana State Police discovered the makings for methamphetamine in the basement and garage.

 

Wonderly wrote on his MySpace page, which has pictures of him holding Taylor Creech, the following update status Friday morning, accompanied with a sad-faced emoticon: “LOST MY 5 MONTHS BABY GIRL. Mite be in jail or prison.”

 

The coroner determined Taylor died after a case of bronchitis. Creech had allowed it to go untreated while trying to avoid authorities, and it developed into sepsis. That condition pushed poisons into Taylor's bloodstream, contributing to her suffocation as she slept on a sofa with Wonderly. Felony counts of manufacturing methamphetamine and maintaining a common nuisance were filed against Janel Creech and Travis Wonderly. Wonderly, pleaded guilty to manufacturing methamphetamine and neglect of a dependent resulting in death. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, to be fully served. Creech, pled guilty to the same two charges and was sentenced to 16 years.

 

"You hear all the time that if you suspect abuse or neglect, you need to report it," said Taylor's aunt, Michele Freewalt, who went to the Whitley County DCS office to report her fears for the baby. "But it didn't do us any good. That's what makes me the most angry. We did exactly what we were supposed to do, and they dropped the ball."

 

http://www.fortwayne.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/JG/20110108/LOCAL/301089971