Somali Woman Locks 5 Children In Closet, 2 Found Dead
INDIANAPOLIS (CBS/AP) A Somali woman claims she "was not in her right mind" when she allegedly locked her five children inside a closet before leaving to visit a friend. Ten hours later she returned to find her 3-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter dead inside.
An Indianapolis police report released Tuesday said 28-year-old Edyan Farah allegedly put her five children in an upstairs closet, approximately 6 feet long and 18 inches deep, around 6:00 a.m. Sunday and barricaded the door with a large bed so the children could not escape.
When Farah returned home about 10 1/2 hours later and opened the closet she found her 5-year-old daughter, Zuhur, and 3-year-old son, Zakariya, "stiff and unresponsive," according to the report.
But according to Lt. Jeff Duhmaell it's possible the children could have been left in the closet longer than the 10 hour time span indicated in Farah's report.
"It's just a very, very sad case," Duhmaell said. "It's one of the worst ones I've seen."
Authorities were called to Farah's two-story apartment approximately four hours after she told detectives she returned and found the two bodies. According to the report, a family friend became worried when Farah began "acting strangely" and would not let anyone in her apartment for hours after she returned.
A woman called Farah's uncle to the complex and when he arrived he saw what appeared to be a dead child on a couch, the report said. Farah reportedly tried to stop him from calling an emergency dispatcher and allegedly snatched his phone and threw it, he later retrieved the phone and held Farah while a family friend notified authorities, the report said.
When medics arrived they found Farah's son and daughter "in full rigor mortis," neither child had a pulse, according to the report.
Farah was charged with two preliminary counts of neglect of a dependant resulting in death Monday. She was held Tuesday at the Marion County Jail on a $200,000 bond. According to Susan Decker, a spokeswoman for the county prosecutor's office, Farah is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to be advised of her rights. Prosecutors have requested an additional 72 hours to prepare formal charges, she said.
An autopsy conducted Monday did not reveal how the boy and girl died and authorities are awaiting toxicology results that take three to four weeks, said chief deputy coroner Alfarena Ballew.
Ballew said that though the two children's bodies were thin, she did not consider them to be emaciated or malnourished as indicated by police and neighbors.
Lt. Jeff Duhamell said the three surviving children-a 7-year-old girl and boys ages 5 and 1, are now in foster care.
Decker said she did not know whether Farah had an attorney and stressed that "everything is still under investigation."
Hussein Adam, a cousin of the children's father, said Monday that the family had emigrated from Somalia about 10 years ago. He said Farah's husband returned to the country several weeks ago to visit his parents, but was now headed back to the United States.
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