#crimereels

Описание: A mother and father from Minnesota are behind bars after they allegedly locked up their 10-year-old daughter with autism in a bed, left her alone for at least 10 or 12 hours and found her unconscious under a bed frame. Heather Lynn Cross, 49, and Darcy Ronald Cross, 57, stand accused of manslaughter in the death of their daughter Cecilia. They are also facing charges stemming from the neglect of their older daughter with autism.

The Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office responded around 4:30 p.m. Aug. 25 to a home located on County Road 1 in Pine River, some 150 miles northwest of Minneapolis, a probable cause arrest affidavit said. When authorities arrived, Heather Cross was performing CPR. Cops tried to place a defibrillator on the girl but noticed her legs were stiff and that she was in rigor mortis, suggesting she had been dead for several hours or more. She also reportedly had deep marks across her neck.

Cops said they smelled an "overpowering odor" of feces and urine in the room. Feces was spread all over the floor and walls, per the affidavit. There was no furniture in the room, other than a specialized "safety bed" with a canopy that also had feces on it, cops said. Heather Cross told police that Cecilia was a "fecal painter" and the condition of her room is normal. She is nonverbal and also has been diagnosed with pica disorder, a mental health condition in which a person compulsively eats non-food items, the girl's mother said. Heather Cross also described the girl as an "escape artist." The other daughter has similar issues, Heather Cross claimed, and as a result, the Crosses zipped both girls into the beds at night so they can't get out.

The mother told deputies she woke up sometime between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. on the day of Cecilia's death to give her some milk and medicine. But neither parent checked on their "extremely high needs" kids until around 4:30 p.m., when Heather Cross found her daughter unconscious on the mattress and under the canopy frame, cops wrote.

Detectives noted that the canopy frame was detached, and appeared to be in that condition for some time. The bed manufacturer told cops that it offered to fix the bed but the suspects declined. Investigators returned to the home a few days after the girl's death to find her sister confined to her bed in the middle of the day. According to the affidavit, experts say that while the kids can be in their beds at night, they should be allowed out during the day. Confronted with this by a social services worker, Heather Cross began yelling at her, allegedly saying she can "zip the bed whenever the f— she wants to," the affidavit noted.

On Sept. 17, authorities took custody of the surviving daughter.

Cops arrested the suspects the next day. They remain in the Crow Wing County Jail on a $100,000 bond. Their next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1.