family of 5 year old People who died from severe neglect is furious with state officials for returning the girl to her mother after an earlier child abuse incident.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said they were called to a mobile home park on Tuesday around 5:15 p.m. for a report of an unresponsive child.
They found Kinsley Welty inside the home and took her to Riley Hospital for treatment for severe malnutrition, where she died a short time later.
Police interviewed the girl’s mother, Toni McClure, who initially blamed the abuse on her father, according to court records. When this story broke, police admitted that she had neglected her daughter, but she also added that she simply didn’t care, she announced.
Investigators say the girl was forced to live in a small closet covered in feces.
Police said the girl had feces in her hair and feet and lice on her head. She also weighed less when she was 5 years old than when she was 2 years old.
McClure admitted to locking the girl in a closet and said she asked for food, but the girl only gave him the basics, police said. She also said she wanted to get rid of her daughter, although she thought her actions might have led to her daughter’s death.
After she made the comment, police arrested her on suspicion of murder.
Her boyfriend, Ryan Smith, was also arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. McClure was also charged with manslaughter.
“She wasn’t a parent, she was a monster.”
The girl’s grandfather, Brian Welty, called the girl’s death “horrible” in a statement to WXIN-TV.
“It’s obviously going to be a lifelong memory that my granddaughter basically starved to death and that could have been avoided,” he added.
McClure was previously charged with child neglect when Kinsley was 3 weeks old, family members said. The judge suspended the woman’s sentence and granted her 400 days of parole. The family said they intended to take care of Kinsle, but authorities have a policy of reuniting the children with their parents.
“We were going to keep her, but DCS has a reunification policy and that’s terrible,” Welty explained. “In my eyes, getting back together from the beginning is the problem, because no matter what the parents do, their goal is getting back together.”
“The system failed this poor child, and I don’t want her death to be in vain,” Hogan said. “She was taken away twice for abuse and neglect, and she just kept getting them back. No one knows why. It’s a failed system.”
Chris Bailey, director of the Indiana Department of Children’s Services, called the death “horrific” in a statement and thanked the officials involved in the case.
“This girl never had a chance,” said Carrie Hogan, the girl’s great-great-aunt. “She had her parents, but they weren’t her parents and they were monsters who betrayed her in every way.”
“She’s a mean woman. That’s all I can say,” Welty added.
Details of this incident are as follows:
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