INDIANAPOLIS — A mother and her boyfriend face charges of neglect after a 4-year-old boy with severe medical conditions died locked in a basement closet.
The child was found unresponsive in the closet on Monticello Drive around 4:30 p.m. Monday. He was pronounced dead at Riley Hospital.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the boy had cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other serious medical conditions. He weighed just 22 pounds at the time of his death.
Three other children in the home told investigators the boy was regularly kept in the basement closet. They said he spent most of his time there and slept on blankets on the closet floor. The children told police their mother locked him in the closet.
Documents show the mother told police she put the boy in the closet around 7 a.m. Monday. She said he had been awake for three days and wouldn't stop screaming. She claimed she left the door open and checked on him at 10 a.m.
She then said she went to sleep around 10:30 a.m. and allegedly didn't check on him again until 4 p.m. One of her other children told her something was wrong.
The boyfriend told police he disagreed with putting the child in the closet but said it wasn't his place to tell her how to raise her kids.
Investigators found blood on blankets and the closet door. The home was described as unkempt and dirty.
The child had previously been removed from his mother's care due to medical neglect concerns. He was later returned to her custody.
Both suspects are being held at the Marion County Jail.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
