Grandmother arrested in connection to death of 5-year-old Indianapolis girl
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 53-year-old woman is facing neglect charges for her role in the death of her 5-year-old granddaughter on April 9, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced Sunday.
Indianapolis police say 5-year-old Kinsleigh Welty was found unresponsive inside her home on the city’s southwest side Tuesday evening. She was rushed to Riley Hospital for Children, where medical staff pronounced her dead.
After Welty’s death, officers took her mother, 29-year-old Toni McClure, and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Ryan Smith, into custody on Wednesday.
In Marion Superior Court 32, McClure was to be formally charged Tuesday with murder, criminal confinement, and battery. Prosecutors also filed a request with the court for McClure to be sentenced to life without parole.
Smith will be formally charged with three counts of neglect of dependent, and criminal confinement, the prosecutor’s office says. His case is also in Marion Superior Court 32.
McClure and Smith’s formal hearings to be charged were rescheduled from Monday.
On Sunday, IMPD announced in a post on Facebook that Welty’s grandmother, 53-year-old Tammy Halsey, was taken into custody for her connection to Welty’s death.
Online jail records say Halsey was being held at the Marion County jail without bond and was arrested on charges of neglect of a dependent.
Online court records on Monday afternoon did not show a case for Halsey. Police say Halsey was due in court for a hearing on Tuesday.
IMPD Chief Chris Bailey in a statement made Wednesday said, “My heart breaks knowing what Kinsleigh went through in her short life and how she left this world. 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.”
News 8’s Gregg Montgomery contributed to this report.
