Case dismissed: Kristine Barnett walks after saga that started in 2019

'Total hell ... unnecessary,' Barnett's lawyer says, as prosecutor decides after 3+ years there’s insufficient evidence to convict mom accused of dumping orphaned daughter in a Lafayette apartment

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Kristine Barnett, accused of neglect for abandoning her daughter in a Lafayette apartment a decade ago, will be spared a trial her ex-husband went through in 2022 on similar charges, after the Tippecanoe County prosecutor dismissed the case Friday, more than three years after it was filed.

Kristine Barnett faced an April trial on four counts of neglect of a dependent after leaving the couple’s adopted daughter Natalia – a Ukrainian orphan with a condition that causes severe dwarfism – in a Lafayette apartment and moving the rest of the family to Canada a decade earlier.

It’s a case that drew gawking headlines, syndicated TV appearances, a longstanding gag order and the promise of a limited series in the works for Hulu.

And now, no convictions.