The parents of a 2-year-old girl in Indiana are facing felony charges after an investigation revealed that they left the child locked in a closet overnight with a space heater running.
They did not check on her until 3 p.m. the following day, only to discover that the child had died. Investigators later determined the child’s body temperature was 109 degrees, and noted that the two other children in the home were living in “unsafe conditions” and had lice.
Sintia Perez and Jace Hirschy now face felony charges. The child’s name was not released in court records. The incident occurred in their Berne apartment, located about 110 miles northeast of Indianapolis, on November 27.
Police responded to a call from Hirschy requesting medical assistance, which led to the discovery of the child’s death. The investigation showed the girl had been placed in a closet with a space heater overnight, causing her to die from hyperthermia, as determined by the autopsy.
Assistant Chief James Newbold of the Berne Police Department reported a significant temperature difference between the main bedroom and the closet where the child was found. “The heat was much more significant in the small closet than in the main bedroom. A door separating the main bedroom and the closet opened when I entered the room,” the officer stated.
Inside the closet, officers found the child’s lifeless body lying on her left side in a crib, within the 6-foot by 8-foot space.
Due to concerns about the heat levels and safety in the apartment, officers used an Infrared Thermal Device to measure the temperature. At 3:57 p.m., Officer Newbold recorded the ceiling temperature at 108.3 degrees, the crib railing at 101.8 degrees, and the child’s body temperature, taken twice, at 108.8 and 109.4 degrees.
The remaining two children in the home were taken into custody by the Department of Child Services. The complaint revealed that these children were found with lice, and the apartment’s conditions were described as “extremely unhealthy.”
Online court records show that Perez and Hirschy are represented by the Adams County Public Defender’s Office. A pretrial conference is scheduled for February 14, with a jury trial set for March.
