Grandmother accused of giving granddaughter gin

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Friday night was Joe Ann DeLoach's 47th birthday. But it was also her night to baby-sit her 8-year-old grand daughter.

So instead of staying home with the girl at the Bloomington apartment where they live, police say DeLoach devised a plan that would allow her to leave the girl home and go out.

"As she had said, she went out to 'celebrate her birthday and to get her drink on,'" said Bloomington Police Commander Jim Ryan.

DeLoach did that, say police, after she forced her granddaughter to do the same, hoping the girl would pass out so she could leave. Police say DeLoach made the third grader drink two glasses of gin, diluting them with water when the girl complained of the taste.

"The child is watching cartoons and the Grandma is feeding her glasses of gin to drink to the point where she then passed out," Ryan said.

But not before she vomited, hit her head on the kitchen table, and struck the left side of her face.

Nine hours after the girl's first drink police say her blood alcohol level was still at .04, half the legal driving limit. DeLoach denies she gave the girl booze, claiming her granddaughter must have snuck the liquor herself.

"There's no way she would have reached that high level just by taking a couple of sips out of the bottle," Ryan said.

Police say the bottle of gin was empty when they arrived at 10 p.m. Friday, alerted by an anonymous caller. By that time, the girl's mother was home from a 12 hour shift, but DeLoach didn't come back until Saturday morning.

"A lot of things could have happened that would have harmed her even more severely, and there was nobody there to provide care for her," Ryan said.

DeLoach is charged with child endangerment, and made her first court appearance Thursday afternoon.

Police still aren't sure how long her granddaughter was passed out, or whether DeLoach may have given her alcohol before.

But they say child protection is investigating, the girl's mother is cooperating, and the child is doing fine.


By Janel Klein (jklein@kare11.com), KARE 11 News

(Copyright 2007 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)

Last Updated: 9/7/2007 6:35:56 AM

ADD HER TO THE BONEHEAD OF THE CENTURY LIST PLEASE.

Absurd. Absolutely absurd. The child is EIGHT.

No comment.

WTF? Did she tell her it was APPLE JUICE?

Damn stupid!! Let me hit that dumb excuse for a grandma over the head with a bottle of gin!!!:mad: :mad:

I LIVE REALLY CLOSE TO BLOOMINGTON.

I could go find her address in the phone book, take a bus to Bloomington, go to her apartment and tell show her exactly what I think of her heinous behavior. pissed:

Not only was the child WAY underage, but gin is the NASTIEST tasting stuff in the world. puke:

Cold Gin

by KISS

Whoo, alright
My heater's broke and I'm so tired
I need some fuel to build a fire
The girl next door, her lights are out, yeah
The landlord's gone, I'm down and out
Ooh, it's cold gin time again
You know it'll always win
Cold gin time again
You know it's the only thing
That keeps us together, ow

It's time to leave and get another quart
Around the corner at the liquor store
Haha, the cheapest stuff is all I need
To get me back on my feet again

Ooh, it's cold gin time again
You know it'll always win
It's cold gin time again
You know it's the only thing
That keeps us together, ow

Whoa yeah
Ooh, it's cold gin time again
You know it'll always win
It's cold gin time again
You know it's the only thing
That keeps us together, ow

My Granma was the most important person in the World to me...how any Granma could ACT this way is just unfathomable to me!!!!!!
Talking a chance on giving her own Grandaughter alcohol poisoning,
just so she can sherk responsibility and go get DRUNK???
If i were the kids Mom, Gramma would be cut off , until she gets help!
( Real help, not Lindsey Lohan type help )

Wow, what a crazy messed up world it is these days. What kind of grandmother would give her granddaughter booze? That's totally irresponsible. At least it's lucky that the girl didn't die from alcohol poisoning or something.