Cops: Indiana Kids Died After 10 Hours in Closet

A woman charged in the deaths of two of her children told officers she locked them and three siblings inside a closet so she could visit a neighbor, then found the boy and girl dead when she returned about 10 hours later, authorities said.

An Indianapolis police report released Tuesday said Edyan Farah, 28, told officers she “was not in her right mind” when she allegedly put the five children in an upstairs closet about 6 a.m. Sunday and placed a bed in front of the door so they couldn’t get out. Police said the closet was about 6 feet long and 18 inches deep.

Farah, an immigrant from Somalia, found her 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son “stiff and unresponsive” when she returned home about 10 1/2 hours later and opened the closet, the report said. She told officers she then carried them downstairs, but did not call 911 or try to revive them, according to the report.

On Monday, Farah was charged with two preliminary counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. She remained jailed Tuesday on a $200,000 bond and was scheduled to be formally charged Wednesday, said Julio Fernandez, a spokesman for the Marion County Jail.

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