Couple indicted in connection to toddler’s death

HENDERSON COUNTY — Two East Texas parents, who were arrested in connection to the death of their toddler and for alleged abuse of their children, have been indicted. According to our news partner KETK, Daniel Dennis, 25, and Erin Dennis, 23, were both indicted on March 10 for two charges of abandoning/ endangering a child. The couple were arrested on December 15, 2021 after their 18-month-old child was found dead, said Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse. They have two other children, a four-year-old and a two-year-old. Hillhouse called it a “horrible case and scene.”

Investigators said there was human feces on the wall and dirty diapers on the floor. The parents locked the children’s room from the outside to prevent them from escaping, according to authorities. The temperature was 103 degrees when the deputies arrived, and one of the baby cribs was rigged as a “cage.” The mother told police that she woke up to play video games and when she went to check on the children, she found the toddler dead.

“The mother she basically said that they had made a make-shift cage. They had taken the crib and turned it upside down, put the mattress on the floor, had put the box springs on top of it and then they took a pet cage and surrounded the crib. In case he got out, he was still in a fenced area,” said Hillhouse.

Henderson County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Tony Duncan ordered an autopsy at the Dallas County Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences.