Parents arrested in death of 2-year-old who was left in closet overnight with space heater
A Indiana couple is facing felony charges after police said they left their 2-year-old daughter in a closet overnight with a space heater and the toddler was found dead the next day.
The toddler's temperature registered at nearly 109 degrees after death, according to court papers obtained by Paste BN on Monday.
Sintia Perez, 21, and Jace Hirschy, 23, are each charged with one count of neglect of a child resulting in death and two counts of neglect of a dependent, according to Adams County Circuit Court online records.
The couple live in an apartment in the city of Berne, about 110 miles northeast of Indianapolis, court papers show.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed Dec. 2 in Adams County, Berne Police Department Assistant Chief James Newbold said police responded to the couple's home for a death investigation on the afternoon of Nov. 27 after Hirschy called the Adams County Sheriff's Office for medical assistance.
Child's body temperature read nearly 109 degrees hours after she was found dead
When Newbold arrived at the home, he wrote in charging documents, he met deputies, local EMS responders and the Indiana Department of Child Services, and learned Hirschy lived in the home with Perez and their three biological children ages 2, 3 and 5.
According to the four-page complaint, Newbold went into the apartment's main bedroom and went to a closet.
"I felt an immediate heat difference from the main bedroom to the interior of the closet," the assistant chief wrote. "The heat was much more significant in the small closet than in the main bedroom. A door separates the main bedroom and the closet, which was opened when I entered the room."
Inside the closet, the officer reported, he saw the couple's dead 2-year-old child lying on her left side in a crib inside the 6-foot by 8-foot closet.
"Due to the increased observation of the heat levels in the closet and concerns about other safety issues for other tenants in the apartment complex, property destruction, and the potential for fire, temperature readings were obtained in the room with an Infrared Thermal Device," the officer wrote in the complaint.
At 3:57 p.m., Newbold reported he documented them to read the following including:
- Heat of the ceiling: 108.3 degrees
- Heat of the crib railing, 101.8 degrees
- Child body temperature after death: (Taken twice) 108.8 degrees and then 109.4 degrees
Closet door 'was closed nearly all the way' overnight
According to Newbold, Perez said her year-old daughter was placed in the crib about 7 p.m. on Nov. 2 and a space heater in the closet was turned on the closet door "was closed nearly all the way."
Perez said woke up at 12:30 p.m. but neither she nor Hirschy checked on the well-being of the child until after 3 p.m.
An autopsy conducted on Nov. 29, found the child died as a result of of hyperthermia (overheating of the body). The child's extended exposure to extreme heat resulted in her death.
The other two children in the home were detained by the Department of Child Services, according to the complaint.
"The children were found with lice," the complaint continues, and living conditions inside the apartment were "extremely unhealthy."
Court papers do not list the victim's name.
Paste BN has reached out to the coroner in Adams County.
Parents charged in child's space heater death due back in court next year
Online court records show both parents are represented by the Adams County Public Defender's Office.
Paste BN has reached out to the office.
Neither were listed as inmates at the Adams County Jail on Monday.
Perez and Hirschy are due back in court on Feb. 14 for a pretrial conference and set for a jury trial in March, online records show.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.