Parents Allegedly Left 2-Year-Old Daughter In Closet With Space Heater All Night... Cooking Her To Death

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

Parents in Indiana have been arrested and charged with the death of their young daughter. This one is particularly horrific…

According to multiple outlets, 21-year-old Sintia Perez and 23-year-old Jace Hirschy have been charged with felony neglect of a child resulting in death, and two more felony charges for neglect of a dependent. The charges came after their 2-year-old daughter was found dead last month with body temperatures up to over 109 degrees because the parents left in a closet overnight with the space heater turned all the way up.

Per court documents from Adams Circuit Court and obtained by WANE, the Berne Police Department responded to Swiss Meadows Apartments in Berne, Indiana, before 3:30 p.m. on November 27 for a death investigation. When officers arrived at the scene, what they found was horrible. Court documents stated police noticed trash thrown throughout the home, so much trash that it was hard to move through the space. They also allegedly found cockroaches inside the house, and a pot on the stove contained mold and several flies.

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One cop went to the bedroom and made a heartbreaking discovery. Inside the closet, he found the toddler dead. The officer claimed when he walked into the room, per WPTA, he “felt an immediate heat difference from the main bedroom to the interior of the closet.” The closet was described as “disarrayed,” with trash around the area, a solid diaper, and feces in the corner. The 2-year-old was in the crib, lying on a “very soiled mattress.” She had discoloration on her body, with her head being “darkly discolored.”

OMG…

Court documents said law enforcement measured the temperatures in the apartment — and the highest reading came from the young child’s body. An initial reading read 108.8 degrees. However, her chest read 109.4 degrees. Meanwhile, her forehead read 108.8 degrees. God…

In the apartment, the highest temperature came in at 108.3 degrees, and the lowest at 84 degrees. Ultimately, due to the extended exposure to extremely high temperatures, an autopsy later revealed the two-year-old died of hyperthermia — overheating. This poor child.

Per the court documents, Perez allegedly told the police she put her daughter in the crib at around 7:00 p.m. the night before with the space heater turned on as high as possible and closing the door almost all the way. Neither she nor the father checked on the toddler until about 3:00 p.m. the next day.

The parents are now in custody at the Adams County Jail. They appeared in court for the first time last week. Meanwhile, their other two children, ages 3 and 5, were taken into the custody of the Indiana Department of Child Services due to the “extremely unhealthy” living conditions and having lice, WPTA reported.

What happened here is awful. Our hearts just break for these kids.

If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. 

[Image via Adams County Sheriff’s Department]