Evansville Police believe 12-year-old’s parents were warned of issues prior to death

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – Affidavits for the Evansville parents of a 12-year-old girl who passed away last month provide details that led police to pursue charges against the couple.

Authorities were dispatched to the 500 block of New York Avenue on July 4 after Ashley Bredhold reported that her daughter, 12-year-old Alice Bredhold, was dead in their home. According to Ashley, the teenager had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2020, and that a reading of her blood sugar earlier in the day was indicated as “extremely high.” Despite this, Ashley told authorities that she did not take Alice to a hospital, and just checked on her “a few times” after she gave her the medicine.

An affidavit notes that Alice had been taken to an emergency room the previous year for acute pancreatitis, hypoglycemia and metabolic acidosis. Notes from the treating physician suggest that the 12-year-old was not getting insulin routinely as prescribed at home, and the parents allegedly admitted they were only partially supervised at home for insulin administration.

The affidavit also says the girl had a sensor on her arm that would transmit her blood sugar levels to her parent’s phones. Despite this, a school nurse told the child’s father, Brent Bredhold, sent her to school when her blood sugar was as high as 600 (with normal blood sugar levels being between 80 and 120). On days when the victim was sent home, the nurse suggested the parents take the girl to a hospital if needed.

According to the affidavit, the school nurse contacted DCS in April after recording that the girl’s blood sugar was greater than 600, but the day after the report, DCS closed an assessment the nurse had made earlier in the year as “unsubstantiated.” The nurse recorded Alice’s blood sugar as higher 300 on 34 days and greater than 500 on 13 days.

Authorities say the girl has been using an insulin pump to better control her blood sugar, but Ashley told authorities Alice stopped using it in September because they ran out of supplies. Police say they collected medical supplies from the home, including 27 unused insulin pump pods and two new transmitters for the monitoring device still in the box.

DCS reportedly found that every room in the house was filled with trash and there were insects present. DCS removed two other children from the home due to poor conditions.

Brent and Ashley were arrested on August 7 and charged with neglect of a dependent causing death. They are being held in the Vanderburgh County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.

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