Prosecutors dropped all eight neglect counts against Kristine Barnett in March 2023 because a 2012 court order had already reclassified her adopted daughter Natalia Grace as an adult, leaving prosecutors unable to prove the “dependent” element Indiana’s neglect statute requires. The question of why Kristine Barnett’s neglect charges were dropped comes down to that single obstacle, compounded by her ex-husband Michael Barnett’s clean acquittal on the same charges five months earlier.1Lafayette Journal & Courier. Neglect Charges Against Kristine Barnett for Abandoning Ukrainian Orphan Dismissed
The Age-Change Order Gutted the Charge
Indiana’s neglect statute applies only to a person who has “the care of a dependent” and knowingly abandons or deprives that dependent of necessary support.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-46-1-4 – Neglect of a Dependent; Child Selling Everything in the case hinged on whether Natalia met that definition when the Barnetts left her in a Lafayette apartment in 2013 and moved to Canada.
She didn’t, on paper. In 2012, the Barnetts petitioned Marion County Probate Court to change Natalia’s birth year from 2003 to 1989, and the court granted the petition.3People. DNA Test Seemingly Confirms Natalia Grace’s Real Age Under that order, Natalia was legally 26 by the time the Barnetts left Indiana. The same Marion County court revisited the order in 2017 and reaffirmed it, and prosecution appeals challenging the age reclassification were denied.4Lafayette Journal & Courier. Neglect Charges Based on Natalia Grace Barnett’s Age Dismissed Against Mom Accused of Abandoning Her in Lafayette
The reclassification held through every stage of the criminal case. Some neglect counts were dismissed in 2020 on exactly this ground, after the trial judge accepted that Natalia was legally an adult during the relevant period. To convict on what remained, prosecutors would have had to prove Natalia was still a dependent in the Barnetts’ care despite the age order saying she was in her twenties. That is a very hard case to build.
Michael Barnett’s Acquittal Ended Any Real Chance of a Conviction
Michael Barnett went to trial first, in October 2022. The jury deliberated for just over two hours and returned not-guilty verdicts on every count: neglect, neglect causing bodily injury, neglect causing serious bodily injury, and conspiracy to commit neglect. Natalia herself testified.5Lafayette Journal & Courier. Michael Barnett Acquitted of Neglecting Adopted Daughter, Natalia
Kristine’s case was legally separate and not bound by Michael’s outcome, but the practical read was obvious. The same evidence, the same age-reclassification problem, and the same defense theory had already produced a fast, unanimous acquittal. Her trial had been set for April 10, 2023. Before it started, the prosecution moved to dismiss.
What the Prosecutor Filed
Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Patrick Harrington filed a motion to dismiss all eight counts of neglect of a dependent on March 23, 2023.6Purdue Exponent. Kristine Barnett Dismissed of All Charges The motion stated the prosecution believed “there would be insufficient evidence at trial to prove the charges in this cause beyond a reasonable doubt.”7WRTV. Case Against Kristine Barnett Dismissed in Tippecanoe County Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 Judge Steve Meyer signed the order the following morning, closing a case that had been open since the September 2019 charging.8WTHR. Charges Dismissed Against Mother in Lafayette Adoption Case
Kristine Barnett did not serve any jail time.
Does Later Evidence About Natalia’s Real Age Change Anything?
No. A blood test conducted by the medical lab TruDiagnostic later suggested Natalia was born around 2003, consistent with her original birth certificate and making her roughly nine when the Barnetts adopted her in 2010. Her legal age has since been restored, and her passport now lists her date of birth as September 4, 2003.3People. DNA Test Seemingly Confirms Natalia Grace’s Real Age All of that came after the criminal proceedings had run their course. Neither the corrected records nor the DNA evidence reopened the neglect case against Kristine Barnett.
The available court records and reporting do not specify whether the dismissal was entered with or without prejudice. Either way, the two reasons the case collapsed — the age order that governed the years the alleged neglect took place, and a jury verdict showing the prosecution’s theory failed on identical facts — would still confront any attempt to refile.