Some stories should never have to be told. Some names should never be etched in tragedy. But the life of two-year-old Zaelynn, cut short by the very people meant to protect her, is a story that must be shared—because silence would only allow more children to suffer the same fate.
A Heartbreaking Discovery
It was a frigid November afternoon in 2024 when officers arrived at a small apartment complex in Berne, Indiana, responding to a death investigation. What they found behind those doors would haunt them forever.
Sintia Perez, 21, and Jace Hirschy, 23, lived there with their children. But when officers asked about their youngest, Zaelynn, their response sent a chill through the room. The truth was worse than anyone could have imagined.
Zaelynn had spent her short life in a dark, cramped closet—a space meant for forgotten belongings, not a child. Her parents had left her there overnight with nothing but a space heater, which became a silent executioner.
A Room That Became a Tomb
As officers stepped inside, they could feel the temperature rise, the heat thick and suffocating. The closet, meant to keep Zaelynn warm, had turned into a death trap.
There, on a soiled mattress, lay the tiny, lifeless body of the two-year-old girl. Her diaper hadn’t been changed. Her little body bore silent witness to the suffering she had endured. By the time authorities arrived, her body temperature had reached a staggering 109.4 degrees—an unbearable heat that no child could survive.
Perez later admitted she had put her daughter to sleep the night before around 7 p.m., turning the heater up high before going to bed herself. She didn’t wake until nearly noon the next day. Hours passed before she and Hirschy even checked on Zaelynn.
By then, their little girl was already gone.
A Bright Light Snuffed Out
Zaelynn wasn’t just another statistic. She was a child full of joy, with bright blue eyes and a playful spirit. Her obituary painted a picture of a little girl who laughed, loved, and brought light to those around her. She was more than the horror of her final moments—she was a life that deserved so much more.
A Home of Neglect
Inside the apartment, officers found filth, chaos, and clear signs of neglect. The couple’s two older children—ages 5 and 3—were living in conditions no child should endure. Cockroaches skittered across the floors. The air smelled of decay. A pot on the stove was filled with mold, covered in a swarm of flies.
The children, both infested with lice, were immediately taken into protective custody by the Department of Child Services. They had survived, but the trauma of their young lives would not be so easily erased.
Justice for Zaelynn
Perez and Hirschy were arrested, facing multiple charges of neglect, including Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Death—a Level 1 felony. Both remain in custody at Adams County Jail, awaiting trial in March 2025.
Little Zaelynn never had a choice. She never had a voice. But the world cannot forget her. Her story is a painful reminder that not every child is born into love and safety. It is a call to action, a plea to listen, to look closer, to protect the innocent before it’s too late.
Because no child should die in the dark, alone, in a closet that was never meant to be a home.
