Authorities in Indiana say a 31-year-old mother left her four young children inside a house that was on fire and then walked several blocks away from the fire, where her 7-year-old son died. Authorities said that Kirstin D. Bowers was arrested last week and charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death for her alleged part in the death of young David Bowers Jr.
Deputies and firefighters from the Rush County Sheriff’s Office reacted to a 911 call about a “house fire with a small child still inside” at a home in the 2000 Block North CR 700 W in Arlington at about 2 p.m. on June 5, 2025.
When first rescuers got to the scene, they saw that the single-family home was “fully engulfed” in flames. The boy who was trapped in the house was tried to be rescued by firefighters several times, but they were finally unsuccessful. The Rush County Coroner’s Office later said he was dead at the scene.
Police said they saw “numerous suspicious circumstances” at the house on the day of the fire.
Bowers is said to have told police that she fell asleep while having a cigarette in bed and “woke up to the bed being on fire” in her first statement. After that, she said she tried to help the kids.
“Bowers advised she attempted to get the children out of the residence one by one, however due to smoke and fire she was unable to rescue David Bowers Jr.,” the release says.
People in charge say Bowers called 911 twice on the day of the fire. She supposedly hung up during the first call. After about 15 minutes, she called again and said her son was in the house when the fire started.
Detectives said that as the probe went on, they found that Bower’s story did not make sense.
“A timeline of events, developed by investigators using surveillance footage, witness statements, and digital technology, revealed that Kirstin Bowers had left the residence and walked several blocks from the residence during the suspected time of the fire,” the news release says. “This left four little kids inside the house.” Three kids are thought to have left the house on their own, leaving David Bowers Jr. unable to get out.
A story said that Bowers and her husband had a bad relationship and fought a lot. Someone in the neighbourhood told police that just days before the fire, Bowers yelled, “I f—ing hate you and I hope everything you love dies.”
Bowers sent her husband an angry message about their kids the day before the fire, which was found on her phone.
“Well, I’m about to call the woman from CPS again…” “Thanks for leaving me here with the kids by myself even though she told you not to,” the message is said to have said.
According to report, she also told police not to believe what her neighbours said about her supposedly walking away from the house while it was on fire. She said she had come back from her walk about five minutes before the fire started. Police said the hangup call was the first 911 call, which happened about four minutes after she left the house.
Police said that Bowers was clean of soot and didn’t smell like smoke at the scene of the crime, even though she said she had helped her kids get out of the fire.
In the weeks following the fire, Bowers is said to have searched the internet for “Manslaughter sentence Indiana,” “Voluntary manslaughter,” “Reckless homicide sentence,” and “Manslaughter of a child sentence Indiana.”
When Bowers’ husband heard that his son had died in the fire, he told the police right away, “Arrest her,” referring to his wife, WTHR reported. It was on July 9, 2025, that he asked Bowers for a divorce.
Detective Randy Meek of the Rush County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, “This is a tragic event for our community, and especially for the town of Arlington, which has been through a number of heartbreaking events in recent years.” “It would be wrong for our agency not to recognise the brave work of the firefighters from multiple departments, many of whom are volunteers.” The people in this group are ready to risk their own safety to save David Bowers Jr. We are deeply grateful and highly commend them for their daring and selflessness that day.
Bowers is being held in Shelby County Jail without bond right now on charges that have nothing to do with each other. Those records show that she will go to Rush County Circuit Court on July 30 for her first hearing on the abuse charges.
