A Muncie father is facing a felony charge after investigators say he left his three-month-old daughter alone and swaddled in a blanket before leaving town. The infant, later identified as Isabelle Vera, was found dead inside a motel room in March 2023.
According to court documents, police responded to the Bestway Inn at 4000 North Broadway around 8:36 p.m. on March 25 after receiving a report of a baby in cardiac arrest. Jessica Brown, Isabelle’s mother, called 911 after returning from work and finding her infant unresponsive and not breathing. Paramedics pronounced Isabelle dead at the scene.
Brown told investigators that both of her daughters were alive and well when she left for work around 2 p.m. that day. She said their father, 28-year-old Jacob Vera, had been watching them while she worked, as was their usual arrangement. When Brown returned home around 8:30 p.m., she discovered that Vera was gone and the children were alone, as obtained by local NBC affiliate WTHR.
Her 16-month-old daughter, Annalise, was found crying “uncontrollably” in a pack-and-play crib. Brown said she comforted the toddler before checking on Isabelle, who was swaddled in a blanket and sitting motionless in a baby swing.
When she lifted the infant, she realized Isabelle was cold and not breathing. Brown ran to a nearby room to ask for help, telling police she could not call 911 herself because Vera had taken their only phone. Investigators later determined that rigor mortis had already set in, suggesting Isabelle had been dead for about two hours before emergency crews arrived.
A witness staying at the motel told detectives that around 5:30 p.m., Vera came to his room asking for a ride to Chicago. The witness said Vera claimed to have $130 and asked if that would be enough to get him there. When the man refused, Vera reportedly left.
The following day, detectives received a tip that Vera had called another friend for a ride to Illinois, offering gas money. The friend showed the police a Facebook message from Vera confirming the trip. Surveillance footage later matched both the timeline Brown provided and the information from the witness.
An autopsy revealed that Isabelle died from asphyxiation.
When detectives reached Vera by phone on March 28, he admitted to leaving the children alone. “If I’m guilty of anything, it’s the leaving,” he reportedly told police. He said he swaddled Isabelle in a pink and black blanket and placed another one on top before leaving for Illinois to “avoid any drama” with Brown. Police have charged Vera with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony. As of now, he has not been arrested.