Roughly 40 million adults struggle with claustrophobia in the United States alone having to live in such a small space would be hell for these people but imagine being a 5-year-old girl and being forced by your mother to live every second of every day in a small filthy broom closet and you were never allowed out you couldn’t eat play with your siblings or even use the bathroom like a normal person you’re left spending every day in agony as you slowly wither away this scenario is sickening to imagine and it might sound
To you like it’s out of a fiction book but for the little girl in today’s story this was her everyday life Kinsley Welty was born in morisville 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 on to date a man named 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 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 chubby 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 need to CM 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 pronounced dead the hospital it was observed by both law enforcement and a DCFS representative that Kinsley was in a horrible State she was extremely malnourished and her eyes had sunken in
At 5 years old Kinsley weighed only 21 lbs the time of her death which is exactly what she weighed when she was 2 and 1/2 years old keep in mind that the average weight for a 5-year-old girl is about 40 lb 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 an autopsy would later confirm kinsley’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 past 2 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 that she retrieve her daughter due to 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 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 inside and that Kinsley complained of leg pain and a headache allegedly within 20 to 30 minutes of bringing Kinsley 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 Kinsley before eventually calling 911 according to Tony Kinsley 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 make it difficult to swallow Tony told inves ators that Kinsley 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 including her mother Tammy Hy her grandmother who was referred to in court documents as JB and her sister who was referred to in court
documents as LM Tammy told the investigators that LM called her and said that Kinsley had fallen in the bathtub been drowned after Tony left her alone JB 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 LM 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 was at the residence on April 9th the friend shared that he often express remorse for being unable to see his children and stress 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 the carpet was smeared with human
excrement and littered with empty and Shore containers stale peanut butter sandwich and a hot dog bun closet’s walls and doors were covered in tiny handprints 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 Tony met with investigators and told them a very different story this time around she reiterated that she was kinsley’s primary caregiver in that her mother Tammy helps sometimes 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 Welty 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 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 hid Kinsley under a blanket in another room during the visit and told the social workers that she was with her grandparents 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 [ __ ] minimum for
Kinsley and that she had [ __ ] up real bad and knew she was going to jail Tony stated that she was not good with 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 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 wished 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 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 planville Indiana according 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 6 to 7 months said Kinsley hated him because he was not her real father Ryan explained that his parents had not seen
Kinsley 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 2 to 3 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 so to be clear here this is a 5-year-old girl being kept in a dark closet for months 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 Kinley better even 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 but that he had cleaned the closet about a month before her death he knowed 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 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 room claimed that she did not see Kinley 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 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 live 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 overall Haggard 6 months before her death Ryan allegedly went to his mother to discuss the 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 Kinley 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 PW appeared to struggle with attention but but stated that Kinsley stayed at the house and that this made her sad PW 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 PW 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 PW said it made him sad that his sister was in timeout all day kinsley’s 6-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 Kinley 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 into the closet told investigators that she slept on the ground and was
forced to go to the bathroom in the closet W said that when the family got pizza she was never allowed to have any because she was always bad and 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 PW 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 BW told investigators that Kinsley had nothing to play with
because she was bad and that she never left the closet BW 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 again and said that she had believed that Kinsley had drowned in the bathtub until she saw on social media what Tony had confessed to Tammy admitted to lying 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 reports regarding her condition Timmy 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 k Kinley once when Tony’s youngest child was born and then on Christmas of 2023 Tammy noticed kinsley’s condition deteriorating over the past 5 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 my heartbreaks 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 coroners office officials and Deputy prosecutors for their steadfast dedication to the innocent what they see and hear every day most of us could not endure 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 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 Ryan Smith was charged with three counts of neglect and criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury Tammy Hy received a one count preliminary charge with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death according to court documents Marian County prosecutor said that Tammy would receive official charges at a later date as the investigation into Kinsley case continued a Facebook Messenger thread
between Tammy and Tony was brought to light further detailing the deplorable treatment in the glot Kinsley Andor well as the Great Lengths that Tammy and Tony went to hide her condition the long thread dating back to 2022 referred to Kinsley by such terms as and I’m quoting here heer demon dummy dip and evil along with a Litany of insults were accounts of intentionally withholding food from kin Levi 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 Tony went on to tell Tammy how Kinsley hates to be struck on the belly and Tammy assured her that 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 another exchange Tony told Tammy that Kinsley had defecated in the closet where she was being held the thread twice referenced duct taping of Kinsley to a bed to ensure that she would not get up at night the messages also detail Tony and Tammy’s attempts to hide Kinsley from 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 20124 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 case worker should have intervened family members emphasized that this situation should have never escalated to the point of death citing a time where Kinsley 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 Kinsley a case manager interviewed during this investigation allegedly told authorities there had been multiple DCFS reports made for instances of neglect involving both Kinsley and Tony in fact DCFS had reported to the home the very same day that Kinsley died kinsley’s great Aunt Carrie Hogan spoke with local news reporters at the rally stating she will forever be 5 years old due the abuse 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 harrie started to GoFundMe to cover the cost of kinsley’s funeral expenses including a princess headstone the fundraiser collected $688 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 they resigned her to starve to death instead of getting her help depending on what she needed she could have seen a doctor or professional and had a normal childhood not condemned to die in a dark filthy closet Kinsley 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 then 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 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 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 same and if you are a parent who was a child that you know could benefit from seeing a doctor
or a professional I beg of you to do the right thing as of the date of this recording in March of 2025 this case is still pending a jury trial is set for September 15 2025 as of June of 2024 Ryan Smith was released on bail Tony mccl and Tammy Hy were being held in the Maran 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 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 was complemented with Engravings of butterflies in the words too precious for this world
