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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — An Allen Superior Court judge sentenced a Fort Wayne woman to serve two years in community corrections Friday on child neglect and domestic battery charges.
Samantha M. Heinkel, 30, received the charges after an incident on June 23, 2022, involving a glass table and an Xbox, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Heinkel had punished her daughter, who is under 14 years old, by making her stand on a glass table while holding an Xbox over her head.
Heinkel had told police during interviews that she typically punished her daughter for peeing her pants by either spanking her or making her hold a heavy book over her head.
According to court documents, the girl’s brothers told police that while the girl had been standing on the table holding the Xbox, the table broke, causing the victim to suffer what authorities described as a “severe laceration” that required surgery to treat.
Heinkel told police she took the victim to the hospital as soon as she saw the victim bleeding, and a Department of Child Services worker also noticed “extensive bruising” on the victim’s buttocks and legs.
The DCS worker spoke with a doctor about the injuries, according to court documents, and the doctor said that the Xbox incident did not account for all of the victim’s injuries.
Heinkel eventually pleaded guilty to one count of neglect of a dependent and one count of domestic battery as part of a deal with prosecutors.
At Friday’s hearing, Heinkel received a six-year sentence on the neglect charge to be served in the Allen County Community Corrections program – which usually includes home detention – with four of the years suspended.
She received another two years in community corrections for the domestic battery charge.
The judge ordered those sentences to be served at the same time.
