The Misery Machine - The Case of Kinsleigh Welty

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Starting point is 00:02:57 This scenario is sickening to imagine, and it might sound to you like it's out of of a fiction book, but for the little girl in today's story, this was her everyday life. Kinsley Welty was born in Mooresville, Indiana on December 3rd, 2018 to parents Bradley Welty and Tony McClure. The couple married in 2017, but ultimately separated a few years later. Tony became the sole caregiver to their three biological children due to Bradley's alleged substance use issues. Tony went on to date a man named Ron. Ryan Smith. By the age of five, Kinsley lived in Indianapolis with Tony, Ryan, her two biological brothers who were four and six, as well as her infant half-brother who was born in March of

Starting point is 00:03:43 2023. Kinsley also had an 11-year-old half-brother from her mother's previous relationship who lived with his grandfather. Kinsley was blonde with bright blue eyes and round shabby cheeks. She loved making people laugh and would often take her father's hat to be silly. She enjoyed getting her hair done, playing dress up, and watching Paw Patrol and Bubble Guppies. She loved to sing the Taylor Swift song you'd need to calm down to her grandparents. On April 9th, 2024, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police arrived at Tony's home after receiving a call regarding an unresponsive child. Law enforcement found medical personnel performing CPR on a frail looking girl upon arrival. It was Kinsley. She was rushed to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, where sadly, she was

Starting point is 00:04:31 pronounced dead. At the hospital, it was observed by both law enforcement and a DCFS representative that Kinzley was in a horrible state. She was extremely malnourished and her eyes had sunken in. At five years old, Kinsley weighed only 21 pounds at the time of her death, which is exactly what she weighed when she was two and a half years old. Keep in mind that the average weight for a five-year-old girl is about 40 pounds. Kinsley's hair had been cut short and was crawling with lice. What hair she had left was matted and caked in fecal matter, which also covered the bottoms of her feet. Her abdomen appeared to be ridden with unknown bites and sores. She also had bruising around her right eye socket and cheekbone.

Starting point is 00:05:14 An autopsy would later confirm Kinzley's cause of death as malnourishment and neglect. Investigators wanted to know what happened, but as you'll soon find out, they were not getting any straight answers. Tony initially told investigators that Kinsley had been staying with her father for the past two and a half months and that he'd been in and out of rehab and had not been in his children's lives for some time. She claimed that Bradley had been doing better with his alleged substance use problem and that she had dropped Kinsley off at a local McDonald's in mid-February after he asked for their daughter to come stay with him. Tony said that she had spoken to Kinsley regularly during her stay with Bradley. She claimed that on April 9th, she picked her up at the same McDonald's after her ex-requested

Starting point is 00:05:59 that she retrieved her daughter due to a work obligation. According to Tony, she immediately noticed that her hair was cut. She told investigators she not only noticed bruising on Kinsley's face, but that she had lost a lot of weight. However, Tony could not provide an address or a viable phone number for Bradley, which raised suspicion. When they arrived home, Tony said that she carried her daughter in Zubalphi. side and that Kinzley complained of leg pain and a headache. Allegedly, within 20 to 30 minutes of

Starting point is 00:06:29 bringing Kinzley home, she had collapsed and massive amounts of liquid began spewing from her mouth. Tony told investigators that she called her boyfriend's mother to retrieve the kids and that she attempted to perform CPR in Kinsey before eventually calling 911. According to Tony, Kinzley suffered from a mild form of dwarfism and a floppy trachea, which occurs when the cartilage within the windpipe is fragile and soft. It can obstruct breathing and it make it difficult to swallow. Tony told investigators that Kinzley had a feeding tube when she was born, but the tube was removed around the age of two. She said that her daughter's last medical evaluation was in December of 2022. Investigators interviewed a number of Tony's other relatives at Riley Children's Hospital,

Starting point is 00:07:16 including her mother, Tammy Halsey, her grandmother, who was referred to in court documents as J.B. and her sister who was referred to in court documents as L.M. Tammy told the investigators that L.M. called her and said that Kinsley had fallen in the bathtub and drowned after Tony left her alone. J.B. told the investigators that Tammy had shared a similar story with her. Additionally, Tony had allegedly told her boyfriend that Kinsley had fluid in her airways and L.M instructed Tony to perform CPR. Following day, police paid a visit to the address listed on Bradley's driver's license. The current resident, who was Bradley's friend, told the police that he hadn't lived there for about a year, but

Starting point is 00:07:55 it was at the residence on April 9th. A friend shared that he often expressed remorse for being unable to see his children and stressed that he had not seen them in a very long time. On April 10th, the police executed a search warrant of Tony's home. The back bedroom had bunk beds belonging to Kinsley's two brothers, and investigators quickly noticed a large dresser pulled in front of a closet. When that dresser was moved, they immediately noticed. a strong odor of urine and feces throughout the closet.

Starting point is 00:08:25 The carpet was smeared with human excrement and littered with empty and shore containers, a stale peanut butter sandwich, and a hot dog bun. Closet's walls and doors were covered in tiny hamprints made with feces. Immediately following the search, investigators urged Tony, who was sleeping in her car to speak with them again, to which she agreed. Exema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with ebbglis. once-monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four-month or longer dosing phase, about four and seven people taking

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Starting point is 00:10:28 Tony said when her sister had taken Kinsley a few months ago, that she had smeared feces all over the bathroom. Tony claimed that she did not know why anyone said that Kinsley had drowned. She went on to apologize for lying to investigators and stated that Bradley Weldy had not seen Kinsley in over a year. Tony shared with the investigators that she was told by both her mother and her boyfriend that she needed to treat Kinsley better or that she was going to die. She had admitted to hiding Kinsley from DCFS social workers during their visits and told the investigators that they had visited earlier in the day on April 9th, 2024, due to her infant son testing positive for THC. Tony had Kinsley under a blanket in another room during the visit and told the social workers that she was with her grandparents.

Starting point is 00:11:18 DCFS did not find Kinsley that day, and Tony was afraid that if they saw Kinsley's condition, that all of her children would be taken away. Tony explained that she and Kinsley never shared a bond. She claimed that Kinsley resented her because she was taken by DCFS when she was younger. Tony admitted to doing the bare-ficking minimum for Kinsley and that she had fucked up real bad and knew she was going to jail. Tony stated that she was not good at the timelines, but she had begun to put Kinsley in the closet a few months back around Thanksgiving of 2023. She said that Kinsley frequently shouted from the

Starting point is 00:11:54 closet, claiming that being hungry and thirsty had become Kinsley's slogan. Tony admitted that the bruising on Kinsley's chin came from slapping her daughter after she had bitten her. She said that Kinsley had told her she wanted to die shortly before she collapsed. Tony asserted that her trembling and complaining of leg pain and head pain was true. She believed that Kinsley had died from malnourishment and that she wanted her daughter out of her life. Tony stated that she wish Kinsley was never born. She admitted that she had failed her daughter and that she knew that everything she had done was wrong. Tony's boyfriend, Ryan Smith, was also interviewed and told the investigators that on April 9th, he had picked up Tony's six-year-old son from school and returned

Starting point is 00:12:40 to his family shop. Shortly thereafter, Ryan received a call that Kinsley had died and that he needed to pick up the other children from their home. Ryan and his mother retrieved the kids as emergency services were coming. He brought them to his mother's home in Plainville, Indiana. Oring to a police statement, DCFS subsequently took the children into their custody. Ryan told investigators that he had begun a romantic relationship with Tony a year ago and had lived at the residence for six to seven months. He said Kinzley hated him because he was not her real father.

Starting point is 00:13:11 Ryan explained that his parents had not seen Kinzley since December of 2023, but Tony's mother, Tammy, frequently watched Kinsley on the weekends because she was not allowed to go away with them on family outings. According to Ryan, Kinsley was not allowed around his family because his father was allegedly inappropriate with her. Ryan explained that Tony decided to put Kinsley in the closet around Thanksgiving of 2023 and that her condition had worsened, especially in the past two to three months. During this time, Ryan said he had only seen Kinsley outside the closet approximately 10 times. and usually just for one or two hours at a time. It'll be clear here, this is a five-year-old girl being kept in a dark closet for months

Starting point is 00:13:51 and only being let out for an hour or two at a time, and we don't even know if she was being let out every day or not. Ryan claimed that he pled with Tony to treat Kinsley better. He'd been threatening to call 911 on her at one point. Ryan said that he never sought medical attention for Kinsley himself because of his love for Tony. He said, Tony was afraid that her other children would be taken away if he called the police. and he didn't want to be responsible for that if they were. He said he had never fed or interacted with Kinsley while she was in the closet,

Starting point is 00:14:21 but that he had cleaned the closet about a month before her death. He knew that feces had piled up in the corner and claimed that he had told Kinsley to stop doing that so they could change her situation. Ryan did admit that he felt he had some blame for the situation. He emphasized to the investigators that he believed that he should be held accountable for what happened to Kinsley, but not to the same extent as Tony.

Starting point is 00:14:45 The investigators also interviewed Ryan's mother, who was referred to in court documents as MS. She claimed that she had met Ryan at his work on April 9th and that they had went to his home to retrieve the children. MS witnessed Tony staring blankly in her bedroom and claimed that she did not see Kinsley. She went on to tell authorities that she had first met Kinsley in 2022 and that the family had lived with her for a time in 2023.

Starting point is 00:15:10 MS speculated that the girl may have had schizophrenia or bipolar disorder because she would be okay one minute and completely shift the next. She told the investigators that Kinsley would break into the cabinets at night when she lived with her. MS claimed that after the family left her home in October of 2023, she rarely saw Kinsley. The last time was in early December of 2023. She didn't look well. Her skin was discolored. She lost a lot of weight and looked over. overall haggard. Six months before her death, Ryan allegedly went to his mother to discuss the

Starting point is 00:15:46 situation with Kinsley, asserting that things needed to change. He told MS that he dealt primarily with the boys and that Tony dealt with Kinsley, emphasizing that Tony resented her daughter. Ryan allegedly told his mother that he had nightmares about Kinsley dying. According to Ryan, Kinsley frequently told him that she didn't like them and that she would continue to act out until someone took her away. Whenever MS asked Ryan about Kinsley, he assured her that everything was moving in the right direction. Kinsley's brothers were interviewed as well, and they highlighted how differently she was treated compared to them. Kinsley's four-year-old brother referred to in court documents as P.W. appeared to struggle with attention, but stated that Kinsley stayed at the house and that this

Starting point is 00:16:33 made her sad. P.W. detailed that his mother had smacked Kinsley on the butt because she was in timeout for escaping the cage, as he referred to it. He described that Ryan became angry at Kinsley and had hit her when she was in timeout in the cage. P.W. told investigators that Kinsley had escaped from what he called the wall and that she did not have anything to play with while on the wall. B.W. said it made him sad that his sister was in timeout all day. Kinsley's six-year-old brother referred to in court documents as BW told investigators that he and all other children go to the corner when they get in trouble, but that Kinsley had a different corner than they did. Apparently it was near where the door was, and after the time out, she had to go back in

Starting point is 00:17:15 the closet. Told investigators that she slept on the ground and was forced to go to the bathroom in the closet. B.W. said that when the family got pizza, she was never allowed to have any because she was always bad, that for the past several months, she was constantly in the closet. He said that Kinsley would shout bad, stupid things at him from the closet. B.W. explained that sometimes she would escape from the closet and tap him, so he would tell his mother and she would be punished. He didn't explain exactly what those punishments were. B.W. told investigators that Kinsley had nothing to play with because she was bad and that she never left the closet. W. said the last time that he saw Kinsley was before he went to his grandparents and he said that she looked terrible. Tammy spoke to investigators

Starting point is 00:18:02 again and said that she had believed, have no fear. Chosen Foods is here to defend your favorite foods from the forces of seedy oils and sketchy ingredients, with cooking oils, salad dressings, and mayo, all powered by the good fats from 100% pure avocado oil and simple delicious ingredients. Chosen foods. ...that Kinsley had drowned in the bathtub until she saw on social media what Tony had confessed to. Tammy admitted to line to the investigators in DCFS because she didn't want her daughter to lose custody of her kids. She stated that DCFS had been to her home four times looking for Kinsley because of multiple

Starting point is 00:18:37 reports regarding her condition. Tammy never shared information regarding Kinsley or Tony's whereabouts with the social workers. Tammy claimed that Kinsley often misbehaved and was told to go in the corner by Tony. She'd seen Kinsley at a party at Tony's sister's home on April 7th and Kinsley was told to go in the corner for the entire duration of the party. The following day, she saw Kinsley again because Tony and her family came to watch the lunar eclipse. Tammy stated that Tony put Kinsley in the corner again because she was in trouble. Tammy told investigators that she had only been over to Tony's house twice to watch Kinsley, once when Tony's youngest child was born, and then on Christmas of 2023. Tammy noticed Kinsley's condition deteriorating over the past

Starting point is 00:19:24 five to six months and urged her daughter to treat her child better. Tammy alleged that she first learned that Kinsley was being kept in a closet while on a video call with Tony. Tammy went on to admit that she would duct tape Kinsley to a bed to keep her from misbehaving. She told police that she believed she should be punished, but not as severely as Tony. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department put forth a statement on their Facebook account detailing the horrific circumstances found at Kinsley's residence. Chief Chris Bailey stated the following. I quote,

Starting point is 00:19:59 My heart breaks knowing what Kinsley went through in her short life and how she left this world. The circumstances of Kinsley'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. I am so thankful for the officers, detectives, crime scene personnel, emergency room personnel, coroner's office officials, and deputy prosecutors for their steadfast dedication to be innocent. What they see and hear every day most of us could not indoor. They are truly special people. I pray Kinsley has found eternal peace and for her siblings who will need a lot of love and care in the coming days, months and years. On April 15th,

Starting point is 00:20:44 2024, Tony McClure was charged with murder, criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury, and assault and battery of a person less than 14 years old. Brian Smith was charged with three counts of neglect and criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury. Tammy Halsey received a one count preliminary charge, one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, according to court documents. Marion County prosecutors said that Tammy would receive official charges at a later date. As the investigation into Kinsela's case continued, a Facebook messenger thread between Tammy and Tony was brought to light, further detailing the deplorable treatment and neglect Kinsley endured as well as the great lengths that Tammy and Tony went to hide her condition.

Starting point is 00:21:27 The long thread dating back to 2022 referred to Kinsley by such terms as, and I'm quoting here, heifer, demon, dummy, dips, and evil. Along with a litany of insults were accounts of intentionally withholding food from Kinsley by locking up the cabinets in fridge because she attempted to access food and drink without permission. In one message from May of 2022, Tony said that Kinsley had escaped from the closet and Tammy told her to block the door with an object. Allegedly, when Tony claimed that she had already tried that, Tammy responded with, you're going to have to keep her home one weekend just to show her you mean business.

Starting point is 00:22:10 Tony went on to tell Tammy how Kinsley hates to be struck on the belly, and Tammy assured her that Ryan Reynolds here from MintMobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one. One of your assistance assistants assistants switch you to MintMobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at Mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required.

Starting point is 00:22:39 Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. Seeful terms at mintmobile.com. She was well aware. Another Facebook message from Tony to Tammy detailed how Kinsley had escaped by breaking the closet's lock and that she had put feces under the couch. Tammy instructed Tony to tie her ass up. In another exchange, Tony told Tammy that Kinsley had defecated in the closet where she was being held.

Starting point is 00:23:05 The thread twice referenced duct taping of Kinsley to a bed to ensure that she would not get up at night. The message is also detailed Tony and Tammy's attempts to hide Kinsley from DCFS and the general public. March of 2024, Tammy warned Tony that DCFS had shown up at her home again, to which Tony replied that they had better figure out a day that Kinsley could, stay with Tammy so she could deal with it. In light of these findings, Tammy's charges have been expanded to include five more counts of neglect and one count of failure to report neglect. On April 28th, 2024, Kinsley's family as well as supporters rallied outside of the Indiana State House. They called for reform of the state agency, claiming that the caseworker should

Starting point is 00:23:48 have intervened. Family members emphasized that this situation should have never escalated to the point of death, citing a time where Kinzley and her siblings were removed from the home. Court records reveal that Tony pled guilty to neglect of a dependent in 2020, and that dependent was Kinzley. A case manager interviewed during this investigation allegedly told authorities there had been multiple DCFS reports made for instances of neglect involving both Kinzley and Tony. In fact, DCFS had reported to the home the very same day that Kinzley died. Kinsley's great aunt Carrie Hogan spoke with local news reporters

Starting point is 00:24:25 at the rally stating she will forever be five years old due to the abyss starvation and torture from those who were supposed to love and protect her at all costs. This was preventable and the public deserves to know. Carrie started a go-fund me to cover the cost

Starting point is 00:24:41 of Kinsley's funeral expenses including a princess headstone. A fundraiser collected $6,888 of its $5,000 goal. Now, to our knowledge, Kinsley was never diagnosed with any behavioral condition or anything regarding her mental health. We can't definitively say what Kinsley was struggling with if it was anything at all. But based on the accounts of other family members to investigators, if Kinsley needed help, they could have gotten her help. Instead, based on the information we currently know, it sounds like they not only gave up on her,

Starting point is 00:25:14 they resigned her to starve to death instead of getting her help. Depending on what she needed, she could have seen a doubt. doctor or a professional and had a normal childhood, not condemned to die in a dark, filthy closet. Kinsley's story is an extreme example, but it reminds me of the children we don't hear about. And those are the children whose parents give up on them because they can't handle their behavior. They get fed up and frustrated with them, write them off as bad kids, tune them out, and let them into the world without any help or support for what they're struggling with. For children like these, if parents were willing to face reality,

Starting point is 00:25:50 head-on, like adults, recognize what their child needed. Their whole life could be changed for the better. If this sounds like you or a parent you know, please recognize that the only way a child with mental or behavioral issues can get help is if an adult agrees to get them resources. If this message can get through to at least one person, it'll be worth it for me to say it, because a parent is the sole arbiter of a child's future in circumstances like these. It may not be life or death like Kinsley's situation, but it impacts that child's entire future. I think back on parents I know with children who needed resources and I sit and wonder exactly how they would have turned out if those parents refused to get them the help they needed. I ask you to reflect on the

Starting point is 00:26:37 same. And if you are a parent who is a child that you know could benefit from seeing a doctor or professional, I beg of you to do the right thing. As of the date of this recording in March of 2020, this case is still pending. A jury trial is set for September 15th, 2025. As of June of 2024, Ryan Smith was released on bail, and Tony McClure and Tammy Halsey were being held in the Marion County Jail. As with all pending cases, all of the accused are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. A private funeral service was held for Kinsley in the care of Meredith Clark funeral home in Morgantown. She was laid to rest at the East Hill Cemetery. beneath a beautiful black heart-shaped headstone.

Starting point is 00:27:23 It sits on a granite pedestal along with a black vase to hold fresh flowers. The stone is adorned with a picture of Kinsley and a red and black plaid dress, the same picture that was used in her obituary. The picture is complemented with engravings of butterflies and the words, too precious for this world.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Kinsleigh Welty

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