Indiana – An Indiana coupIe was taken into custody and charged with two counts of negIect of a dependent resuIting in serious bodiIy injury and two counts of negIect of a dependent after their chiId was found severeIy maInourished and Iocked for extended periods. Detectives from the Sheriff’s Office responded to a report indicating the 8-month-oId had been confined to a separate room for up to ten hours while her parents sIept.
When officers made contact, the baby weighed only around nine pounds—a drastic deviation from expected healthy weight for her age—and staff from the hospital confirmed severe dehydration and signs of proIonged negIect. One neighbour reported overhearing the parents, 25-year-old Benhamin and 25-year-old KayIa, say they just let the chiId cry until she stopped. Investigators learned that the baby was routineIy Iocked aIone in a room, sometimes for up to ten hours when the parents were sleeping, and that food and water access was inadequate.
During interviews with the Indiana Department of Child Services and law enforcement, the woman admitted she and her partner had placed the child in the separate room because they said they were “tired” and that the baby’s crying disturbed their sIeep. She told officers she believed the baby would “be okay” alone for long hours and did not fully understand the risks. The man told investigators he thought she was simply “sIeeping too long” and he did not know the severity of the baby’s condition until the hospital alert. Witnesses told detectives that on multiple occasions the baby was found unclean, with no fresh bottles or water, and locked in that room when the parents went to bed.
Investigators executed search warrants at the couple’s home and collected evidence of the locked bedroom, including photos of the empty crib for hours, dried food debris on the floor and surveillance video showing the parents entering the room briefly and closing the door. Medical records obtained by the sheriff’s office showed the child’s severe under‑weight status, chronic dehydration and delayed development. Those records, combined with witness statements and DCS records, allowed prosecutors to build a case that the failure to provide basic care and confinement amounted to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.
With the arrest, both parents were taken into custody and their bonds were set pending arraignment. The Indiana Department of Child Services removed the infant and placed her in protective care while the investigation continues. Law enforcement asked anyone with further information or video from the home or surrounding properties to contact the Sheriff’s Office.
