News 4 Jax
August 21, 2015
Lonna Barton, mother of missing 21-month-old toddler Lonzie Barton, was arrested Tuesday night after police said she gave false information to them in the search for the toddler.
Police said Barton is being charged with giving false information in a missing person case and child neglect because she knew Ruben Ebron, the man who was last seen with the child, sold and kept drugs in the home where Lonzie lived.
“Lonna (Barton) knew Ebron kept, used and sold narcotics. She knew he was a drug dealer,” Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Chief Tom Hackney.
Hackney also said that on July 23, the day before Lonzie was reported missing, Lonna Barton found a bruise on the back of Lonzie’s head that he received while Ebron was watching him.
After finding the bruise police said Lonna also found yellow fluid coming from Lonzie’s ears and the toddler kept vomiting. After getting into a heated argument with Ebron, she still decided to leave the toddler in Ebron’s care while she went to work at Wacko’s.
“Despite being in an argument over a bruise and how it occurred without a satisfactory answer, she left Lonzie and the 5-year-old in the car and custody and control of someone who may have done something to her child while she went to work at Wacko’s,” Hackney said.
Police did say that Lonna Barton’s arrest, and the charges of child neglect, were not directly related to Lonzie’s disappearance.
According to officials, Lonna Barton is being cooperative with police and came into the police department to speak with investigators and was arrested after talking to them.
During that investigation Hackney said that the truth began to come out and they found out that Lonna Barton had been lying to police all along.