An Indianapolis woman, her boyfriend and his mother have all been arrested in connection with the “horrific” death of the woman’s five-year-old daughter.
On Tuesday, around 5:15 p.m., police were called to reports of an unconscious child.
Authorities said they found five-year-old Kinsleigh Welty thin and malnourished, with sunken eyes and feces on her feet and in her hair when she was found.
They took her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The hospital she was taken to said she weighed more at two and a half years old than she did at five years old.
The girl’s mother, Toni McClure, 29, and her boyfriend, Ryan Smith, 27, were both arrested on charges of child neglect resulting in death, with McClure charged with murder.
An Indianapolis woman with a history of abuse, her boyfriend and her mother have all been arrested in connection with the ‘horrific’ death of the woman’s five-year-old daughter, Kinsleigh Welty (photo)
On Friday, Tammy Halsey, 53, Kinsleigh’s grandmother, was arrested for neglect of a dependent.
Her death is being investigated by local child abuse detectives and employees of the Indiana Department of Child Services.
IMPD Chief Chris Bailey called the death “horrific” as court documents reveal McClure had problems in the past.
In December 2018, McClure went to the hospital for a medical issue when Mooresville police were called to a home where she lived with several children.
A one-year-old and a baby just three weeks old were discovered with completely full diapers as the children ran and crawled on a floor littered with trash, dirt and cigarette butts. The toilets contained fecal matter that had never been cleaned.
The infants also played with old potatoes near a “dirty couch, a dirty mattress and a full ashtray,” according to Fox 59.
Worse still, they were near expired and moldy food and sharp objects.
“It appears the trash was never taken out,” an officer reported. “The Nats were flying all over the kitchen and living room. »
The girl’s mother, Toni McClure, 29, was arrested and charged with murder and neglect.
McClure’s boyfriend, Ryan Smith, 27, was also arrested and charged with neglect.
Authorities said they found five-year-old Kinsleigh Welty thin and malnourished, with sunken eyes and feces on her feet and hair when she was found.
When officers found them, they said the house was “one of the worst living conditions they had ever seen” and a “disgusting sight.”
These were “dangerous nightmares for an adult, let alone a toddler and a newborn.”
McClure was contacted at this time about DCS’ presence and began to “panic.”
At that point, officers contacted Child Services to respond to the scene. When McClure was informed that DCS was at her home, she allegedly began to “panic.”
The three-week-old girl, believed to match Kinsleigh’s age, was malnourished at the time, with filth on her head and hands and in a “failed to thrive” state, even losing weight while that she was only three weeks old. .
McClure was arrested following the 2018 findings and charged with four counts of negligence, alongside a man named Bradley Welty who faced two charges.
She ultimately pleaded guilty to one count and was sentenced to 900 days in prison.
McClure had his sentence suspended after just six weeks and instead received 540 days of probation.
In a 2018 incident accusing McClure of neglect, when officers came to her home, they said it was “one of the worst living conditions (they have) ever seen” and a “spectacle disgusting.”
Tricia Welty (pictured right), Kinsleigh’s paternal grandmother, now feels guilty about returning the girl to McClure after living with her twice.
Tricia Welty, Kinsleigh’s paternal grandmother, now feels guilty about returning the girl to McClure after living with her twice.
Welty said she begged the Department of Children’s Services to do something, but her cries went unanswered and she is now demanding change.
“We just don’t want his death to be in vain. We want change. We don’t want more children to die because of the failure of the system,” she said.
“She was at our house and she was safe, but she was returned to her attacker and she is no longer here.”
It’s this information that has some members of the girl’s family wondering why the state didn’t intervene when it was clear that McClure would not protect her children.
“As far as I’m concerned, she wasn’t a mother, she was a monster,” Kyla Welsh, Kinsleigh’s cousin, told WRTV.
“It’s unimaginable what we’re facing right now.” ‘
If parents don’t love them and don’t protect them, and the state doesn’t do it, who’s going to protect them,” Welty asked.
Tributes paid to Kinsleigh Welty after she was pronounced dead earlier this week
“My heart breaks knowing what Kinsleigh went through in her short life and how she left this world,” Bailey said in a statement.
“The circumstances of Kinsleigh’s death are horrific and beyond comprehension. No human being, let alone a child, should be treated the way she was. These alleged suspects, if convicted, should never leave a prison.
The law prevents DCS from commenting on these matters until a criminal investigation is completed.
Indianapolis City Council member Joshua Bain is calling for a full investigation.
“It leaves you perplexed,” Bain told Fox 59 after writing a letter to the state Department of Child Services. “It makes you feel sick to your stomach.”
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