IndianaNews

Indiana father charged with neglect in sons’ drownings

(Photo supplied/Lake County Jail)

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — The father of two Indiana boys who drowned in a river has been charged with felony neglect in their deaths after allegedly telling police he had used heroin before taking his sons to the waterway.

Eric J. Patillo was indicted Thursday on two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death.

Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez says 4-year-old Levi Patillo and 2-year-old Evan Patillo were pronounced dead Tuesday at hospitals after witnesses pulled them unresponsive from the Kankakee River near the Illinois state line. An affidavit says Patillo told police “he shouldn’t have been using heroin prior to watching” his sons while with them at the river. Police say the 34-year-old tested positive for both heroin and marijuana.

Jail records don’t say whether Patillo has an attorney.

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