'I Could See My Breath': Father Charged After 13-Month-Old Daughter Dies From Hypothermia in Freezing Home
A Maine father charged with manslaughter over the death of his 13-month-old daughter has pleaded not guilty in court. Shane McLaughlin, 37, appeared in Penobscot County Superior Court on Friday, 30 October 2026, following his arrest in connection with the child's death.
Shane McLaughlin, 37, of Milford, was arrested on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, ten months after Eleanora Ray McLaughlin was found unresponsive at his home on 28 December 2025. The state medical examiner's office determined that she died of hypothermia.
Charges and Court Appearance
McLaughlin faces one count of Class A manslaughter and three counts of Class D endangering the welfare of a child, following an investigation by the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit North. A Penobscot County grand jury indicted him, and the Maine Attorney General's Office is prosecuting the case.
The arrest followed a monthslong investigation, police said, but they did not immediately explain what led investigators to charge him. He entered his plea in Penobscot County Superior Court on Friday 30 October 2026.
Eleanora lived with her twin sister and a three-year-old brother at her father's house. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Eleanora died from hypothermia and classified the manner of death as accidental.
According to the indictment, the three child-endangerment counts concern Eleanora and her two siblings, who were allegedly put at risk through a violation of a duty of care or protection.
According to the indictment, the endangerment charges stem from the day Eleanora died. It accuses McLaughlin of recklessly endangering the children 'by violating a duty of care or protection'.
What the Father Told Reporters
In a December 2025 interview, McLaughlin said he found his daughter dead at the family home on 28 December. He said he had been using an electric space heater in the bedroom where he and the children were sleeping, but that a pet opened the door. 'I could see my breath,' he said. He confirmed he was the only adult in the house that night.
WABI reported that temperatures in Bangor reached a high of 28F (-2C), with an overnight low of 13F (-11C), on 28 December 2025.
Eleanora's mother, Erika Dupuis, was McLaughlin's estranged wife at the time of the incident. She told reporters in April that she was 'angry and upset' he had not been charged, and said she hoped to see child neglect or manslaughter charges filed.
Dupuis said she moved to West Virginia in the summer of 2025, leaving the children with their father in Maine.
Questions Over Child Welfare Oversight
The case has also drawn political scrutiny. Republican state senator Jeff Timberlake questioned the Maine Department of Health and Human Services' handling of the family's case.
He said the department had visited the property and closed an investigation on 22 December 2025, six days before Eleanora's death. Timberlake also questioned how the case could have been closed when, according to him, the home had no heating or running water.
Timberlake said in January that he had obtained a department document describing the home's conditions, which he said included unsanitary and unsafe conditions for a child. McLaughlin previously told reporters that he and Dupuis had been investigated several times since 2017, although he disputed the investigators' conclusions.
Timberlake, a longtime advocate of separating child and family services from the department, and other lawmakers have pressed officials for more information. This was the third attempt in six years to establish a separate Department of Child and Family Services in Maine, moving child welfare responsibilities out of DHHS.
The Maine father charged with manslaughter is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. He was being held at Penobscot County Jail when he entered his plea, his defence lawyer, Seth Levy, has requested a bail hearing, and the case is next due in court in February.