A 4-year-old girl from Alabama was arrested after she was admitted to the hospital after returning from school with dangerously elevated ethanol levels in her system.
Tracy Walker, 56, teaches at the school where Mary and Albert Singleton’s 4-year-old daughter was taken to the nurse’s office limping and “slobbering at the mouth.” Walker was charged with severe child abuse after being taken into custody on Wednesday, according to documents from the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.
Police began looking into what might have happened to the young girl, who spent two days in the intensive care unit (ICU) with a blood alcohol percentage of 0.29.
The Singletons stated that they received a call from the nurse’s office on their daughter’s condition on April 28, just two minutes before classes were dismissed. Her child was “slobbering at the mouth, she was heavy, and the teacher handed her to me saying we probably needed to take her to the ER,” Mary Singleton said.
The girl’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.29, more than 3 1/2 times the legal limit for an adult, when the couple took her to USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital. Before being discharged from the hospital, the girl was in the intensive care unit for two days. The girl’s recuperation prevented her from going back to school for the remainder of the year.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office assumed responsibility for the case on May 6 after it was revealed earlier this month that an investigation had started. Walker was taken into custody on Tuesday. The young child reportedly informed Mobile County Sheriff’s Office detectives that she had been given a drink by her teacher that caused her to feel ill.
Walker is identified as a special-education teacher on the website for Collins-Rhodes Elementary School, where the Singleton girl was enrolled. Following the initial accusations against her, Walker was placed on administrative leave, the school said in a statement.
Walker remained in detention without bond as of Thursday. A bond hearing was set for Friday, according to reports.
