INDIANAPOLIS — It looked like the woman was transporting toys inside of the crate attached to her bike — but then Brian Henderson says he saw an “arm move.”
Seconds later, Henderson and his coworkers at an east side pizza shop approached her and saw what was inside the milk crate: two unrestrained 2-month-old twin babies.
Police were called to Just Pizza at 3852 E. 10th Street on June 27 after one of Henderson’s coworkers, Suezanne Lynch, says she saw a woman on a bike swerving and almost wrecking a few times, at one point hitting a curb and almost causing the bike to fall over, according to court documents.
After realizing two babies were inside the crate, Lynch called for medics.
“You can’t have those babies in there like that, ma’am,” Henderson can be heard saying in video captured of the incident that was then widely shared in a nearby neighborhood Facebook group.
Court documents identified the woman as 35-year-old Blossum Kirby, who told police she always transported her children that way since she did not have a car and did not see anything wrong with it.
Kirby told officers she was riding her bike from her mother’s house in the 2300 block of Prospect Street to a friend’s house in the 6000 block of E. 12th Street, which police say is a 30-minute bike ride.
During the ride, the two babies were inside a milk crate attached to the front of the bike with a bungee cord.
The boy and girl were only wearing diapers. FOX59/CBS4 meteorologists say the temperature was in the mid-80s at that time.
Medics who treated the babies said the infant girl had “sunburns, abrasions on her left hand, and minor scratches to her body.” The boy also had sunburns and minor scratches, as well as a wound to the groin
and an extreme rash.
The restaurant workers had taken the babies inside because one of the infants seemed “lethargic” according to a probable cause affidavit.
Lynch told police as they waited for officers to arrive, Kirby struggled to stay awake and kept falling asleep. She would wake up every once in a while and yell at them to give the babies back.
Court documents show that when police asked Kirby why she didn’t call the twins’ father for a ride, she told them she did not know what his name was. She insisted she was a good mother and was currently on probation but not on any drugs.
The babies were taken to Riley Hospital for Children.
Kirby was arrested and charged with two counts of neglect of a dependent.
A motion was filed to set Kirby’s bond at greater than the standard amount because she was arrested while out on bond for domestic battery.
Henderson, who is a twin himself, says it was “God’s doing” that he was able to step in and get help.
“It was heartbreaking,” said Lynch.
Police say the Department of Child Services was notified of the incident. DCS says state confidentiality laws prevent the agency from commenting.
