ANDERSON, Ind. — An Indiana mother is behind bars after her daughter’s death was ruled a homicide. The woman’s boyfriend was also arrested after the little girl died Saturday due to severe injuries, according to WXIN.
Hudson is now sitting in jail preparing to bury the child instead of celebrating the little girl’s second birthday in a couple of weeks.
“I could’ve opened my eyes a little bit more and quit being so blind about everything,” Hudson said. “I didn’t realize the person I brought into my child’s lives.”
23-month-old Paisley Hudson had a fractured skull, internal bleeding and too many bruises to count, the coroner said.
“I didn’t realize the severity of it until I lost my daughter and that’s when things starting coming in place,” Hudson said. “Maybe stuff was going on.”
Both Hudson and her boyfriend, Ryan Ramirez, are behind bars in connection with Paisley’s death.
They face preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent causing death. Hudson said Ramirez watched her kids Friday night while she was at work. She said he also put Paisley to bed once they were all home.
Hudson said she found Paisley dead the next morning.
“Don’t ignore things that you think are going on,” Hudson said. “Don’t believe the words somebody tells you. I believe if that wasn’t the case, my daughter would still be here.”
But some say it is hard to believe Hudson was unaware of the potential abuse.
“There were starting to be more signs, more bruises, more cuts, more marks,” said Klarissa Manuel, who regularly babysat Paisley and her older brother.
“We thought were cigarette burns. Any time I would talk to Kayla about it, she always had an excuse like [Paisley] fell.”
Manuel said she contacted the Indiana Department of Child Services twice. The last time she reached out to the agency was in May. At that point, Manuel said she shared photos of suspicious injuries with a DCS staff member.
“I had pictures on my phone I showed her,” Manuel said. “They said it would be dealt with and they had three or four open cases already pending against her.”
Hudson acknowledges at least two encounters with DCS but said they didn’t keep checking in after Paisley had a fractured bone.
No formal charges have been filed in this case yet. The prosecutor’s office was granted a 72-hour extension to work on the case. The deadline to file charges is Thursday at 1 p.m.