Girl With Autism, 10, Allegedly Crushed to Death By Her Own Bed — And Now Parents Face Charges

A Minnesota mother and father have been charged with manslaughter following the death of their 10-year-old daughter with autism, who was allegedly crushed by her own bed after being left unsupervised for several hours, authorities said.

Darcy Cross, 57, and Heather Cross, 49, were arrested on Sept. 17 — a little over three weeks after officers responded to the couple’s Pine River, Minn., home on Aug. 25, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.

First responders said they arrived to find Heather “frantically performing CPR” on the girl, but told her to stop so they could take over using the defibrillator. But when the officer went to move the girl’s legs, he claimed they were “stiff” and that she was in “rigor mortis,” meaning the girl had likely been dead for several hours, per the affidavit.

Investigators also noted there was an “overpowering odor” consistent with urine and feces in the bedroom, which only had a safety bed inside and several soiled mattresses, the affidavit states.

Heather claimed to investigators the condition was normal and described her daughter as a “fecal painter,” per the affidavit. Both of her daughters had autism and sleep disorders, she said, that led the parents to buy safety beds for the girls.

Heather told investigators she gave the 10-year-old a bottle and her daily medicine sometime between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. before going back to sleep, per the affidavit. She said she woke up again around 9 a.m. and believed she heard the girls playing in their rooms.

Darcy, meanwhile, claimed to authorities that he went outside to mow the lawn around noon and came back inside around 4:30 p.m. to find his daughter dead, per the affidavit. He reportedly said the girl’s head was pinned under the metal frame of the bed with her buttocks in the air, comparing it to the child’s pose in yoga.

“Darcy reported it was not uncommon for the girls to be in their beds during the day and reported that he and Heather would generally check on the girls every couple hours,” the affidavit states.

But investigators allegedly found instead the “extremely high needs child was left alone for 10-12 hours with no supervision.”

According to the affidavit, Heather allegedly told authorities she had never seen the bed frame broken or out of place — but investigators allege text messages show she sent pictures of the broken frame to Darcy two days earlier.

When investigators rebuilt the girl’s bed after obtaining it through a search warrant, they found that the four metal poles intended to be welded to plates were all broken, “so nothing was holding the metal cage to the bed frame,” per the affidavit.

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A bed supplier technician told authorities they believed the posts had been broken for some time given their condition, and that he had not returned to the home since the initial install in 2020. The technician also claimed the couple bought replacement parts but denied assistance from the company to have someone complete the repairs.

A social worker who visited the family on Sept. 5 claimed Heather confronted her during the meeting after telling her that the bed enclosure for the older daughter could only be used at bedtime for sleeping. 

Heather allegedly told the social worker to “get the f*** out,” the affidavit states.

Following their arrests, Heather and Darcy’s other daughter was placed in protective custody, per the affidavit.

The parents are also facing one count of contributing to need for child protection or services, a gross misdemeanor charge. It’s unclear if they have entered pleas or retained attorneys to speak on their behalf. Their next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 1.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.