A former Mt. Healthy Elementary School i-CARE employee is accused of an additional Level 5 felony charge of battery after a school surveillance video showed her battering her 10-year-old stepdaughter at the school on Dec. 11.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. school resource officer and sheriff’s Deputy Teancum Clark, lead investigator in the case, reviewed camera footage from the school as part of the investigation.
The camera footage depicts Cooksey in an altercation with her 10-year-old step-daughter, the probable affidavit states. In the footage, Cooksey grabs the young girl by the hair and yanks her head back in a forceful and violent manner, the affidavit states.
Cooksey then throws the girl forward, causing the girl to stumble and lose her balance, according to the affidavit. As the girl turns to face Cooksey after she stumbles, Cookset strikes the girl in the face, the affidavit states.
Cooksey is being charged with a Level 5 felony of battery resulting in bodily injury to a person younger than 14 years of age, in addition to a Level 6 felony for neglect of a dependent and a Class B misdemeanor for public intoxication originally filed in the case.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. terminated Cooksey’s employment following the Dec. 11 arrest.
Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies arrested Cooksey, 35, 2990 W. County Road 300S, on Dec. 11 at the school after deputies received a call from a parent who reported that Cooksey had been verbally aggressive toward the caller’s son.
The parent said she smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Cooksey’s breath, the affidavit stated.
Cooksey told deputies she was not working at the school, however, when asked what she was doing at the school, Cooksey said, “I’m working here,” according to the affidavit.
After slamming her bag on the ground, an empty bottle of Dark Eyes vodka rolled out of the bag, in full view by a sheriff deputy, the affidavit stated. Carlson placed Cooksey in handcuffs but she refused to take a portable breath test, according to the affidavit.
As deputies were preparing to transport Cooksey to Columbus Regional Hospital, she repeatedly asked, “Are my girls OK?”
She told deputies there were zero children in the school, according to the affidavit. Carlson asked if she had children and Cooksey replied “aggressively that it was none of his business and she had zero children.”
Sheriff’s Capt. Dave Steinkoenig noticed a back door open on a nearby white Buick in the school parking lot that had Cooksey’s two stepdaughters, ages 7 and 10, inside. Both children were wearing winter coats, and it was approximately 30 degrees Fahrenheit outside at the time, the affidavit states.
It is not clear how long the children had been left inside the vehicle unattended, deputies said.
The vehicle did belong to Cooksey and was not running when deputies noticed the children inside it. The children were picked up by their father and Child Protective Services was made aware of the incident, deputies said.
After being taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, Cooksey claimed she suffers from borderline personality disorder and said she had not been managing the disorder well lately, the affidavit stated.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Cooksey told investigators repeatedly that “I really messed up today,” after he was arrested.
Cooksey was being held at the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $11,000 bond, jail officials said. A date for an initial court hearing in Bartholomew Circuit Court has not yet been set.
