An autistic teenager who relied on a wheelchair in Indiana was discovered lifeless inside a makeshift padded space, surrounded by used diapers, litter, child cups, and excrement. Authorities claim her mother is responsible for placing her there, and the mother allegedly confessed to law enforcement that her home was in disarray due to her depression.

Liza Lindsay, 41, from Richmond, is charged with severe neglect after her daughter was found dead in unhygienic conditions, the details of which are included in a court document obtained by Law&Crime. Lindsay, along with her partner, Daryl Grubbs, faces allegations of neglect regarding their treatment of Lindsay’s other children, two boys aged 13 and 15.

The incident took place at their home on 1313 South 10th Street when law enforcement was notified on July 24 about an “unresponsive female,” identified as Lindsay’s daughter, as outlined in the affidavit. An officer from the Richmond Police Department recounts the situation in the charging papers.

“Upon entering the home’s front door, I detected a potent smell that I can only compare to a mixture of cat urine, feces, and trash,” the officer reports. “Inside the entryway was a small platform leading to a set of stairs descending to a basement and another set ascending to an upper floor. I began recording from the basement area.”

The affidavit details how detectives and officers needed to navigate “around a foot of debris and various objects,” while avoiding “fly strips that hung from the ceiling, filled with insects.” The teenager’s room featured a “Minnie Mouse” image on the door. The document describes her as “nonverbal, with severe autism, epilepsy, unable to walk, and diagnosed with microcephalic disorder, mitochondrial disorder, and Pit-Hopkins syndrome.”

“When I opened the door, I saw a dresser and a large pile of trash,” the detective alleges.

“There was a small television on the dresser with a large piece of Plexiglas in front of it,” he recalls, noting how there were “black spots on the walls and ceiling” that looked like “black mold,” per the detective.

“I was wearing a mask on my face, but I still found it hard to breathe due to the strong smell of what I can only describe as garbage, feces, and decomposition,” the cop says. “There were dirty diapers on the floor mixed in with the trash. The room had a closed-off area similar to a stall. The closed-off area was padded on all sides up to a height of approximately 4 feet. The walls on the inside of the stall had holes in them. There was a hole in the stall door. The door to the stall was open when I entered the room.”

It was 76 degrees inside the home at the time, according to authorities, and Lindsay’s daughter was found inside the stall, naked “except for a partially attached dirty diaper,” the affidavit says. “The walls of the stall were covered in a brown filth,” the detective alleges. “There was also a brown substance on the walls of the room.”

The Wayne County Health Department later found ammonia levels inside the residence reaching “9 ppm,” or parts per million, with the state’s minimal risk level being 1.7 ppm, according to police. Members of Indiana’s Department of Child Services (DCS) also responded to the scene and determined that the conditions inside the residence showed signs of neglect toward Lindsay’s two surviving children and took the teens into their custody, the affidavit says.

“Liza said her residence looked the way it did because she has been depressed,” the detective recounts. “Liza said she used to take medication for her depression, but doctors took her off the medication in January of 2025. Liza said her depression since worsened.”

However, when investigators looked up Lindsay’s medical records online, they allegedly found that doctors had not taken her off the medication she had been prescribed for her depression, according to the affidavit. Lindsay allegedly claimed during her police interview that her daughter had seizures and was known to hit her head on things during the medical episodes. She told cops that the last time she saw the teen was around 10:45 p.m. on July 23, the night before she died.

“Liza said [her daughter] had a seizure at that time that lasted approximately 1 minute,” the affidavit says. “Liza said she waited until [her daughter] came out of the seizure, then placed [her daughter] in the recovery position with her head facing west and her feet facing east at approximately 11:15 PM. Liza said she wished her other two children goodnight, then went to her bedroom downstairs. Liza said she stayed up watching Chinese dramas on her phone until sometime after midnight.”

Grubbs, who is described as being someone who “acted like the children’s stepfather,” was home at the time and allegedly found the victim. He is accused of neglecting her and the other children in the home. A friend of Lindsay’s spoke to police and alleged that Grubbs and her were both violent with the children.

Lindsay and Grubbs are both facing two felony counts of neglect of a dependent. They were both being held in Wayne County, with records showing that Lindsay bonded out on Friday. Grubbs was still locked up as of Monday.