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A father in Maine was arrested following the death of his 13-month-old daughter after she froze to death in a room with only one space heater.
Shane McLaughlin was taken into custody on Wednesday, October 28, and was charged with one count of manslaughter and three counts of child endangerment in connection to the death of his daughter, Eleanora, in December 2025.
The Maine State Police said in a press release that Eleanora was found dead in McLaughlin’s home on December 28, 2025. A monthslong investigation was then led by the agency’s Major Crimes Unit, which included an autopsy that was conducted by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in April.
Once the autopsy was completed, it was determined that Eleanora’s cause of death was hypothermia and the manner of death was accidental.
Eleanora was living in her father’s home with her twin sister and 3-year-old brother at the time of her death, according to the Bangor Daily News.
The three child endangerment counts that McLaughlin, 37, was charged with are in connection to Eleanora’s death, according to the indictment viewed by the Portland Press Herald. McLaughlin has been accused of recklessly endangering Eleanora and his two other children by violating a duty of care or protection, per the document.
Once McLaughlin was arrested, he was booked into the Penobscot County Jail and is currently being held on a $250,000 bond. McLaughlin is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Friday, October 30.
It’s not currently clear if McLaughlin has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following his arrest. The Maine State Police had no additional information to share when contacted by Us about the case.
Following his daughter’s death, McLaughlin spoke to WCSH about the tragedy and confirmed that he was the only adult home at the time of the incident. McLaughlin added that Eleanora was sleeping in his room with her siblings when she died.
“I grabbed a package of Pop-Tarts, opened it up, and I went to wake up Eleanora, and that’s when I found her dead,” he recalled. “I was using an electric space heater in my bedroom between the girls’ bed. The door was open because one of the animals came into the bedroom, and I could see my breath.”
A mother in Maine admitted to leaving her 3-year-old daughter and family dog inside a vehicle for approximately 15 hours, leading to their deaths. Kelly Sanders Brown pleaded guilty to manslaughter of a family or household member and aggravated animal cruelty during a hearing on Monday, August 31, according to WMTW. A spokesperson for the […]
Eleanora’s mother, Erika Dupuis, also previously spoke to WCSH and said she was “angry and upset” that McLaughlin had not been charged in connection to their daughter’s death.
Dupuis and McClaughlin were estranged at the time of the incident, and she reportedly moved from Maine to West Virginia the summer before Eleanora died.
