Two Indiana parents are in custody after allegedly leaving their 2-year-old daughter in a closet overnight with a heater on high. The boy was found dead with an internal body temperature of up to 109.4 degrees, according to local reports. WANE.
The parents, Sintia Perez, 21, and Jace Hirschy, 23, each face multiple felony charges, including neglect of a dependent resulting in death and two additional felony counts of neglect of a dependent.
Bern police officers discovered the boy on Nov. 27 in what they described as extremely disturbing conditions. According informationThe room where the child was found was “messy” and filled with trash, dirty diapers and feces. The little girl’s body was located lying on a “very dirty mattress” inside her crib.
Authorities noticed a notable difference in temperature between the master bedroom and the closet where the girl had been left overnight. An affidavit of probable cause subpoenaed by WPTA He detailed the immediate reaction of the police to the intense heat in the closed space.
Perez allegedly told officers that she and Hirschy placed the child in his crib around 7 p.m. the night before. They left the heater on at its highest setting and couldn’t get it under control until about 3 pm the next day, almost 20 hours later.
An autopsy later confirmed that the boy’s cause of death was hyperthermia, or severe overheating. Following the investigation, the Indiana Department of Child Services took custody of the couple’s two other children, ages 3 and 5, after determining that living conditions were “extremely unhealthy” for any child.
Perez and Hirschy appeared in court last week and remain in custody at the Adams County Jail as the case proceeds. The tragic incident has shocked the local community and raised further concerns about child neglect and unsafe living environments. The case continues to develop as authorities investigate all the circumstances that led to the child’s death.