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An Indiana mother and her boyfriend are facing charges of neglect leading to death after her 4-year-old son, who had severe medical conditions and was unable to walk, talk, or feed himself, was found unresponsive and later died at Riley Children’s Health in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Police responded to a call just before 4:30 p.m. on Monday, made by Angel Lovely’s boyfriend, Nicholas Bergdoll, according to a report by the Indianapolis Star.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the young boy, Malichi Lovely, who used a wheelchair, was placed in a closet under the basement stairs the night before his tragic death. Angel Lovely reportedly told authorities that she was awake around 9 a.m. that morning as she sent her other children off to school. One child mentioned to detectives that he heard Malichi gagging before leaving for school, but Lovely claimed she was not informed of this incident.
Following the departure of her children, Lovely fell asleep around 10 a.m., only waking when one of her daughters returned from school in the afternoon. Upon waking, she instructed her daughter to check on Malichi—a task the daughter often did to comfort him, as he frequently became upset when he felt alone.
When the girl went to the basement, she opened the closet door and turned on the light, immediately noticing blood coming from Malichi’s mouth and his eyes rolled back.
Bergdoll told police he was in the basement while Malichi was in the closet — also sleeping — and hadn’t heard any choking or gagging. He said he didn’t know how long the child had been in the closet.
Lovely told police that she only ever put in there for a few minutes when he would scream and then take him back out again. She did not explain why he’d been there all day while she slept.
Malichi’s three older siblings told investigators that he was frequently put in the basement closet. “He’s trapped in the little room,” one child said. “Mom does not take care of [him] as much.”
The court documents also quoted the children saying “mom keeps him in the closet and does not pay attention to him.”
Lovely, 37, and Bergdoll, 36, denied neglecting the boy and had excuses ready for investigators. For his part, Bergdoll threw his girlfriend under the bus, saying they’d only been together a few months and he was “not going to tell her how to f****** raise her kids.”
Lovely said Malichi frequently had insomnia and would stay awake for days, making him an “overall cranky child.” She blamed the a hospital when he was listed as “failure to thrive” in 2024. She was also accused at that time of missing her son’s medical appointments, which she also blamed on the hospital for canceling the appointments and then not returning her calls when she tried to reschedule.
That was when the boy was temporarily removed from her custody and placed into foster care. A year later she was granted full custody again, against the advisement of DCS.
Malichi has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, congenital hypertonia, hip dysplasia, spastic quadriplegia, epilepsy, aphagia, hearing loss, skin disorders, gastroenteritis, colitis, insomnia, GERD, hydrocephalus, and sleep apnea.
Lovely and Bergdoll both denied keeping Malichi in the closet “all the time.”
They are due in court on Monday.