By Leslie Bonilla Muniz
Indiana Capital Chronicle
Fifty-nine children died of caregiver abuse or neglect in 2024, according to an annual report from the Indiana Department of Child Services released just before the end of 2025.
Of those, 18 were due to abuse and 41 were due to neglect.
The total has stayed in a similar range in recent years — from a low of 50 in 2020 and a high of 61 in 2022. Last year’s number was 56.
DCS reviewed 276 child fatalities in 2024. The share of deaths attributed to caregiver maltreatment has hovered around 20% for at least the last several years.
The agency reviews all child deaths that involve allegations of abuse or neglect, and — for children under age three — all fatalities that are sudden or unexplained. Forty-two, or 71%, of the victims were under age 3.
Fifteen kids in the report were previously victims in a prior case of abuse or neglect substantiated by DCS.
Death by weapon, which includes body parts like closed fists, was the leading cause of death, listed in 20% of cases. Asphyxia, poisonings, drownings and unsafe sleep conditions were other top factors. DCS pulls causes of death from state death certificates.
Two cases involved toddlers shooting themselves with unsecured, loaded firearms — one in his mother’s purse and one by his father’s mattress. That is down from 10 similar cases recorded in 2023.
Parental alcohol and other drug use was prevalent, however.
Several young children died directly of acute cocaine, fentanyl or methamphetamine toxicity. But parents were repeatedly described as incapacitated by drug use in numerous cases with other primary causes of death, like a house fire, starvation or unsafe sleep conditions.
Some kids died after catching the common cold. Often, their parents didn’t seek medical attention despite noticing their children stopped eating, went pale, struggled to breathe and so on.
Other victims had chronic health conditions.
A 1-year-old boy, who’d previously been diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension and heart failure, died after going months without an overnight ventilation machine or medications prescribed to prevent fluid build-up in his lungs.
One 12-year-old girl with Type 1 diabetes died of diabetic ketoacidosis. Her blood sugar topped 600 on the day of her death. Investigators found a broken continuous glucose monitor and unused insulin pumps in the home, according to the report. The child’s medical records revealed the parents had a history of failing to manage her autoimmune disease even though they’d been through training more than 10 separate times.
Of the 78 alleged perpetrators deemed responsible for the fatalities, 63 — or 81% — were the children’s biological parents. Multiple perpetrators can be involved in one death.
The report cited a variety of caregiver stressors, like insufficient income, unemployment, substance abuse and a history of abuse — either as a victim themselves or as a perpetrator.
In 43 cases, or 73% of them, the children died at their own homes.
