Mother charged with murdering five

Release time：2024-05-21 09:12:14 Source：Planet Pages news portal

An Indianapolis woman, her boyfriend, and her mother have all been arrested in connection with the 'horrific' death of the woman's five-year-old daughter. 

On Tuesday, police were called to a report of an unresponsive child at around 5:15pm.

Authorities say they found five-year-old Kinsleigh Welty looking malnourished and thin with sunken eyes and with 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 at five.

The girl's mother, 29-year-old Toni McClure and her live-in boyfriend, 27-year-old Ryan Smith, were both arrested for child neglect resulting in death, with McClure given a murder charge. 

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 (pictured) 

On Friday, 53-year-old Tammy Halsey - Kinsleigh's grandmother - was taken into custody for neglect of a dependent. 

Her death is being investigating by local child abuse detectives and workers for the Indiana Department of Child Services.  

IMPD Chief Chris Bailey called the death 'horrific,' as court documents reveal that McClure has had past issues. 

In December 2018, McClure had gone to the hospital with a medical issue as police in Mooresville were called to a home that she lived in with several children.

A one-year-old and a baby of just three weeks were discovered with completely full diapers while the kids ran and crawled around a floor littered with garbage, dirt and cigarette butts. The toilet had fecal matter that had never been cleaned off. 

The infants were also playing with old potatoes near a 'filthy couch, dirty mattress and full ashtray,' according to Fox 59. 

Worse, they were well within reach of expired, moldy food and sharp objects. 

'It appeared the trash had never been taken out,' an officer reported. 'Nats were flying all over the kitchen and living room.'

The girl's mother, 29-year-old Toni McClure, has been arrested and charged with murder and neglect

McClure's live-in boyfriend, 27-year-old Ryan Smith, was also arrested and charged with neglect

Authorities say they found five-year-old Kinsleigh Welty looking malnourished and thin with sunken eyes and with feces on her feet and in her hair when she was found

When officers found them, they declared the home 'one of the worst living conditions [they'd] ever seen' and a 'repulsive sight.'

They were 'hazardous nightmares for an adult, let alone a toddler and newborn.'

McClure was contacted about DCS' presence at the time and began 'freaking out.'

At that point, officers contacted Child Services to respond to the scene. When McClure was informed that DCS was at her house, she reportedly began 'freaking out.'

The three-week-old girl, whose age would match up with Kinsleigh, was said to be malnourished back then, with filth on her head and hands and in a 'failure to thrive' state, even losing weight despite being just three weeks old. 

McClure was arrested over the 2018 findings and charged with four counts of neglect, alongside a man named Bradley Welty who received two charges. 

She eventually pled guilty to one count and was sentenced to 900 days in jail. 

McClure had her sentence suspended after just six weeks and was given 540 days of probation instead. 

In a 2018 incident charging McClure with neglect, when officers came to her home, they declared it 'one of the worst living conditions [they'd] ever seen' and a 'repulsive sight.'

Tricia Welty (pictured right), Kinsleigh's grandmother on her father's side, now feels guilt over having given the girl back to McClure after having lived with her twice

Tricia Welty, Kinsleigh's grandmother on her father's side, now feels guilt over having given the girl back to McClure after having lived with her twice.

Welty said she pleaded with the department of child services to do something about it but her cries went unanswered and now she's demanding change. 

'We just don't want her death to be in vain. We want change. We don't want any more kids to have to die because of the failure of the system,' she said. 

'She was in our home, and she was safe, but she was handed back to her abuser and she's not here anymore.' 

It's this information that has some of the girl's family wondering why the state didn't step in when it was clear McClure wouldn't protect her children. 

'As far as I'm concerned, she was not a mother, she was a monster,' Kyla Welsh, Kinsleigh's cousin, told WRTV. 

'It's unimaginable what we're dealing with right now.'  '

If the parents aren't going to love and protect them, and the state is not, who is going to protect them,' asked Welty.

Tributes laid out for 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 like she was. These alleged suspects, if convicted, should never step foot outside of a prison.'

DCS is prevented by law from commenting on these cases until a criminal investigation is finished. 

Joshua Bain, an Indianapolis City Councilmember, is calling for a full investigation. 

'It boggles your mind,' Bain told Fox 59 after writing a letter to the state department of child services. 'It makes you sick to your stomach.'

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