An Indiana mom faces multiple charges after the death of her youngest child. Sophie Igou called police after allegedly discovering her toddler was dead, but police were shocked by what they found when they arrived. The child had not just died. In fact, he likely had been dead for a considerable amount of time. Although the mom didn’t seem surprised that she was going to be arrested, she did ask whether she had contributed to the child’s death.
Igou called 911 about 10:45 p.m. on September 17, 2025, telling authorities she found her 22-month-old son Jasper cold to the touch, the Indy Star reported. When officers from the Shelbyville Police Department arrived minutes later, Igou was in the driveway of her mobile home. She was holding Jasper, who was wrapped in a sheet.
The mom had said she had only just found him unresponsive. Officers, however, wrote he “appeared to have been deceased for a significant amount of time.” When they searched inside her mobile home, they found “decomposing material” in his crib.
According to court documents reported by WTHR, an officer at the scene heard Igou ask “Am I going to go to jail now?” She was taken in by police for an interview.
The mom told police that she had two other children in addition to Jasper who are 4 and 8 years old. She has been their primary caretaker since her ex-husband moved out in November 2024. Igou allegedly told police her ex hadn’t seen the kids in five weeks.
She also reportedly said Jasper had been having trouble keeping food down earlier that same day but also shared that she hadn’t been taking her kids to the doctor because she was “trying to get her bearings as a single mom.” Court documents showed Jasper hadn’t been to the pediatrician since January 2024, when he was approximately 2 months old.
Police noted that Jasper appeared to be severely underweight when he died. According to detectives, he was “extremely emaciated and malnourished with near complete absence of subcutaneous fat, sunken eyes, thin sagging skin and pronounced protrusion of bones.”
An autopsy has been conducted by the Marion County Coroner’s Office, and results are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
“Sophie appeared to act surprised when (law enforcement) told her that Jasper had to have been deceased for a significant period of time prior to her calling 911,” according to documents obtained by Fox 59. “When confronted with the condition of Jasper’s body, Sophie stated ‘did I do this?’”
Police reported that her home was of “extremely poor” quality. It was covered in garbage and had a bug infestation. “The state of the premises appeared to be entirely unsafe/unhealthy as a domicile for human beings, let alone small children,” documents stated, per Fox 59.
According to multiple news outlets, her older children have been removed from the home and placed in the care of the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Igou faces five felony charges, including neglect of a dependent resulting in death and neglect of a dependent. One of those counts is because her oldest child has never been enrolled in school, the Star reported. She is being held on a $2 million bond.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
