An Indictment was returned on Thursday charging Richard Tilden Jr including criminal negligent homicide and manslaughter. His girlfriend, Esther Edwards-Gust has also been charged with assault. Esther Edwards-Gust was the mother of the child.

Tilden was arrested on February 2 in the investigation.

Around 12:30 pm, on the day of the incident, when police responded to Tilden’s Barrow apartment after he called for assistance, they found the children’s bedroom window opened to the elements. The weather outside was a very cold, -30 degrees.

When asked, an inebriated Tilden told officers that the reason the children were unclothed was because when he checked on the children after noon that day, he found that they had wet the bed and one of them had defecated there. The said he stripped the children and the bed and took them downstairs to clean them up. That is when, according to documents, that he found that the 3-year-old was unresponsive and placed a call to 911.

Documents state that the window in the apartment bedroom was open to the elements, with no bedding. It was also noted that the bedroom door could not be opened from the inside as the latch was missing. The affidavit also stated that Police Chief Leon Boyea was unable to open the door from within and required assistance from the other side of the door to exit the room.

But, according to police, the children were left trapped in the room through the night in the freezing temperatures.