What punishment do you think the parents deserve?

**Note:** This story originally made headlines in December 2024.

A tragic case in Berne, Indiana, has left a 2-year-old girl dead and her parents facing serious charges after she was left overnight in a closet with a space heater. Her body temperature rose to a fatal 109°F.

Police responded to a call on November 27 and found the toddler in a crib on a heavily soiled mattress inside a cluttered closet. The space heater had raised the closet’s temperature to over 108°F. The child had not been checked on for more than 18 hours.

Parents Sintia Perez, 21, and Jace Hirschy, 23, admitted to placing the child in the closet around 7 p.m. the previous evening. An autopsy confirmed death by hyperthermia.

Following the incident, their two other children—both found with lice and living in unhealthy conditions—were removed from the home. The couple now faces one count of neglect resulting in death and two additional counts for endangering the other children. They remain in custody.

This heartbreaking case has prompted renewed calls to report suspected child neglect before it’s too late.