Parents allegedly left toddler in closet with space heater until she died with body temperature over 109 degrees

(WPTA/Gray News) - Two parents in Indiana are accused of leaving their 2-year-old in a closet with a space heater overnight until she died with an internal body temperature of over 109 degrees.

Police responded to an apartment complex at about 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 27 for a death investigation.

As he walked around the apartment and into the room where the 2-year-old girl was, Berne Assistant Police Chief James Newbold said he felt an immediate heat difference from the main bedroom to the closet’s interior.

He described the condition of the room as “disarrayed,” specifically noting trash around the room, a soiled diaper, and feces.

The toddler was in a crib, lying on a “very soiled mattress.” Police said the girl had discoloration, with her head being “darkly discolored.”

Investigators measured temperatures in the apartment, with the highest readings coming from the girl’s body.

An initial reading read 108.8 degrees, a chest reading read 109.4 degrees and her forehead read 108.8 degrees.

The highest temperature taken in the apartment was 108.3 degrees and the lowest was 84 degrees.

The parents, 21-year-old Sintia Perez and 23-year-old Jace Hirschy allegedly told police the girl was placed in her crib, in the main bedroom’s closet, at about 7 p.m., with a space heater turned nearly all the way up.

Neither parent checked on the girl until after 3 p.m. the next day, police said.

An autopsy found that the girl died from hyperthermia, the overheating of the body, as a result of extended exposure to extreme heat.

Department of Child Services took the defendants' other two children. They say the children had lice and their living conditions were “extremely unhealthy.”

Perez and Hirschy are each facing one count of neglect resulting in death and two additional neglect charges connected to the condition of their other two children’s living environment.

Both appeared in court for the first time Wednesday afternoon.

Perez and Hirschy are both being held at the Adams County Jail.