A North Dakota couple was arrested last week, a year after their 3-month-old son reportedly died in deplorable conditions.

In July 2024, Fargo police responded to Nikolas and Alie Shearer’s home after Nickolas Shearer, 25, reported his son was not breathing. Officers who responded to the couple’s residence noted it was littered with garbage to the point that they had trouble reaching the deceased baby, according to KVLY.

Not only did the house allegedly reek of spoiled food, but Nikolas and Alie Shearer’s deceased son was wearing a diaper filled with feces and urine. Officers also said flies were swarming the diaper, KLVY reported.

Nikolas Shearer allegedly told police that his wife fed the baby on the couch with a bottle she propped up with a blanket. He claimed they discovered their son’s lifeless body hours later.

The Shearers’ surviving children, ages  1 and 2, were placed in protective custody in light of the infant’s death. The 1-year-old reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine via a hair follicle test. The two other children tested negative.

An autopsy determined the 3-month-old died of “unexplained sudden infant death with intrinsic factors” with his manner of death being undetermined.  Though he tested negative for methamphetamine, a toxicology report detected the presence of caffeine and cotinine, or metabolized nicotine, according to Inforum.

Nikolas and Alie Shearer, 23, are charged with  child neglect. They are due in court on October 1.

[Feature Photo: Cass County jail]