A 25-year-old mother in Evansville, Indiana, faces neglect charges after her 15-month-old son suffocated in an unsafe Pack 'n Play crib. Authorities say the child was left unattended for seven hours while the mother slept. An autopsy confirmed the death resulted from asphyxia due to unsafe bedding.
On November 14, 2025, emergency responders arrived at an apartment in the 1600 block of Cass Court in Evansville following a 4:22 p.m. call from Amirah E. Moodie. She reported being unable to wake her 15-month-old son, Isais Pascual-Hernandez, who was stiff. First responders found the boy on the floor near the entryway and attempted lifesaving measures, but he was beyond help.
Police described the home as extremely messy, with food, trash, and cat feces scattered on the floor. In the child's bedroom, officers noted a Pack 'n Play crib containing an oversized mattress that stretched from one end to the other, folded into an L-shape against the side. An oversized waterproof sheet with an impermeable rubber backing was also inside, which investigators deemed unsafe and a suffocation hazard.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Moodie put Isais down for the night around 6 p.m. the previous evening. He slept through the night and woke around 6 a.m. The boy's father left for work shortly after. Moodie, who woke at the same time, took a THC gummy due to stress over finances. She described Isais as more energetic recently but appearing tired that morning, so she placed him in the Pack 'n Play with a bottle around 9 a.m. Moodie then slept intermittently for several hours.
The father returned home at 2 p.m. and napped in the bedroom. Moodie checked on Isais between 3 and 4 p.m., about seven hours after the nap began, and found him motionless with the sheet wrapped around his head two or three times. She struggled to unwrap it and noted marks on his neck and blue lips. Moodie explained that the sheet was larger than the mattress, and she tucked it in, but Isais often pulled it off.
An autopsy determined the cause of death as asphyxia due to suffocation by bedding from unsafe sleep, with possible contribution from ligature strangulation. Moodie, 25, was arrested last week on one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. She is held without bond in Vanderburgh County Jail and made an initial court appearance on March 9, 2026, with a next hearing scheduled for March 26.
