Death of Kansas City child whose body was kept in apartment for days ruled a homicide

The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled a young girl’s death a homicide after police found her wrapped in blankets in a trash-filled Kansas City apartment, police say.

Captain Leslie Foreman, a spokesperson with the Kansas City Police Department, announced the ruling Tuesday morning. Preliminary autopsy notes revealed that the young girl suffered from “physical wasting.”

The girl’s twin sister was also thought to have experienced physical abuse and neglect, according to documents filed in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Police discovered the girls less than a week before their fifth birthday.

Adair Fish, 43, was charged with four felonies Thursday in connection with the alleged abuse and neglect of the twin girls – one count of child abuse resulting in death, one count of child abuse with serious injury, one count of first-degree child endangerment resulting in death, and one count of child endangerment resulting in physical injury.

According to prosecutors, Fish called 911 on Nov. 3 to report that one of her daughters was dead, and the other was unresponsive.

During the conversation, Fish stated that one of the girls had been dead for several days.

Kansas City police entered an apartment in the 5700 block of St. John Avenue just before 4:30 p.m. that day to find insect activity and trash piled several feet high. The girl was discovered wrapped in blankets amid the debris. She was in “an advanced state of decomposition,” according to the documents.

The second girl was immediately transported to a hospital, where a doctor noted the living twin suffered severe malnutrition and dehydration and may suffer permanent negative effects on growth and cognition. The living 5-year-old weighed no more than a 20-month-old girl, according to court documents.

Police identified the dead child as Ivy House.

Charging documents indicate that Fish had previously lost custody of the girls, but regained it in 2019.

A bond review hearing for Fish has been set for Monday afternoon. She is currently being held without bond.