Man pleads guilty to neglect after abandoning baby to die in Muncie motel room
Isabelle Vera was found dead in a baby swing by her mother after the child’s father abandoned her and her 16-month-old sibling in 2023.
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MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man is pleading guilty after he left his infant daughter to die in a baby swing in 2023.
Jacob Vera pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury in the death of his 3-month old daughter on Thursday, Nov. 6.
Isabella Vera was found dead in a baby swing inside the hotel room where Jacob left her March 2023. Her 16-month-old sibling was sobbing “uncontrollably” when their mother found them abandoned.
According to prosecutors, Isabella had been dead for some time.
The mother of the children told police they were fine when she left them with Jacob around 2 p.m. on March 25, 2023, to go to work.
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Police say that Jacob abandoned the children a few hours after their mother left for work and headed to Illinois.
Someone in a neighboring room told police that Jacob came to him a few hours after the mother left to try and get a ride to Chicago. The man said he refused.
Officers called him on March 28 when he was in Peoria, Illinois. Jacob allegedly said, “If I’m guilty of anything, it’s the leaving.”
Credit: Jessica Brown
Jessica Brown told police she found her two children alone, and one of them dead, in a Muncie hotel room.
Jacob allegedly told police he was trying to “avoid any drama” with the children’s mother.
According to the plea deal, prosecutors are dropping an earlier neglect resulting in death charge in exchange for Jacob pleading guilty to neglect resulting in serious bodily injury.
According to the deal, the sentence will be capped at nine years, though the exact sentence will be determined by the judge.
Mother returned from work to learn father abandoned children, left baby to die in swing
by WKRCSun, November 9, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Updated Mon, November 10, 2025 at 4:22 AM
A mother returned home from work to find a child “crying uncontrollably” and a baby dead in its swing, with the father admitting to abandoning them without telling the mother. (Google Maps)
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MUNCIE, Ind. (WKRC) – A mother returned home from work to find a child “crying uncontrollably” and a baby dead in its swing, with the father admitting to abandoning them without telling the mother.
Officers with the Muncie Police Department responded to a report of a cardiac arrest at a Bestway Inn at 8:36 p.m. on March 25, 2023, according to local outlet WTHR. The caller was Jessica Brown, who told police that she left her two children with their father, Jacob Vera, so she could go to work at 2 p.m.
Upon arriving home at around 8:30 p.m., Brown said Vera was gone and her children without care. Her oldest child, a 16-month-old, was “crying uncontrollably” in a pack-and-play crib while her 3-month-old baby was sitting lifeless in a swing, the outlet reported.
Brown took the baby out of the swing and reportedly immediately noticed she wasn’t moving normally and was not breathing. Brown attempted to call 911 but quickly discovered Vera left with the only phone, forcing her to run to a neighbor’s for help.
Authorities later determined that the strange movement Brown reported was actually rigor mortis setting in.
Another man staying at the motel said Vera came into his room at 5:30 p.m. and requested he drive him to Chicago for $130, but the man refused.
Vera was eventually located thanks in part to other witnesses and friends that stepped forward to help authorities retrace the father’s steps. When questioned, Vera allegedly refused wrongdoing, saying, “If I’m guilty of anything it’s the leaving.”
He said that he abandoned the children without telling Brown to “avoid any drama,” the outlet reported.
On November 6, 2025, Vera pled guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, according to WTHR.
