This Case of Child ABUSE & TORTURE is so HORRIFIC That Most People Can’t Finish It!
First though, a warning tonight that some of what you’re about to see and hear is disturbing. The final days and weeks of her life were torture. The screams of a child so loud neighbors repeatedly called police. You can sit outside at any time of the day and hear both of them screaming at these kids, cussing at them.
Who would you talk to if you had any worries? Anybody? Just thinking about hearing her voice. Warning. What you’re about to hear might be the most heartbreaking case of child abuse and systemic failure I’ve ever covered. The story of 8-year-old Autumn Lee Hallow contains details so horrific that experienced police officers, medical professionals, and even hardened judges broke down in tears.
This isn’t just another true crime story. This is a devastating reminder of how a system designed to protect children can become complicit in their murder. I’ve had to pause writing multiple times while preparing this story. That’s how emotionally devastating this case is. Yet Autumn’s story must be told. Her voice was silenced by the very people who should have protected her.
But by learning what happened to her, we might save another child from the same fate. This is the story of a little girl who gave the best hugs in the world. Who wrote notes saying, “Have a happy heart, not a sad heart, and who died weighing the same as a 4-year-old, just 33 lb after months of systematic torture and starvation.
Friends, while you’re listening to this story, please do a few important things. Write in the comments what city you’re from and what time you’re watching this video. This way, I’ll be able to better understand my audience and choose the optimal time for publishing such critically important materials.
Give it a like, subscribe to the channel, and be sure to share this story with your friends. The more people who learn about what happened to Autumn, the greater the chances of preventing similar tragedies. On August 24th, 2011 in [ __ ] Rapids, Minnesota, a premature baby girl entered the world 6 weeks early.
But from her very first breath, Autumn Lee Hallow showed an incredible wilt to life. As if she was eager to get into this world to share her love with everyone around her. Her mother, 20-year-old Kelsey Cruz, held this tiny bundle of joy in her arms. The baby had golden hair that caught every ray of sunlight, blue eyes as deep as the sky, and a smile that could melt the coldest heart.
From her very first moments, Autumn radiated pure love and warmth. She had this incredible ability to make everyone feel special, Kelsey would later say, her voice breaking with pain. Even when she was tiny, you could see it in her eyes. this pure unconditional love like she was born to heal hearts. For Autumn, the world was full of wonders.
Every day was an adventure. Every moment an opportunity to make someone happier. She loved drawing pictures for her family. Carefully choosing colored pencils. Red for Mama’s heart. Yellow for the sun that always smiles. Blue for the sky under which they all live together. Her little notes were found everywhere around the house. I love you, mama.
You’re the best. Have a happy heart, not a sad heart. Each word was written by a child’s hand, but with boundless love. Autumn was a gymnast at heart. She could spend hours practicing somersaults and cartwheels, then put on shows for the whole family. She sang, danced, and spun around the house, filling it with laughter and joy.
Look at me, she would shout, performing another trick, her eyes shining with delight. She was pure energy, kindness with little hands and feet, light that illuminated the life of everyone who knew her. Autumn was the heart of a large devoted family. Every generation from her doing grandparents to her great-grandparents who had lived through decades of joy and sorrow saw something extraordinary in this little girl.
She was their miracle, their proof that pure goodness still existed in the world. But the most important bond was with her brother Noah, who was only 11 months older. They weren’t just brother and sister. They were best friends, allies, protectors of each other. Autumn always protected Noah, Kelsey recalls.
Even when she was very little, she would stand between him and any danger. She didn’t know that soon she would need protection herself. protection that no one would be able to give her. Friends, if this story has already touched your heart as much as it has touched mine, please share this video on social media. Perhaps this will help someone notice signs of child abuse and intervene in time.
A simple repost could save someone’s life. But behind Autumn’s bright smile lay a story that began long before her birth. Kelsey was only 17 when fate brought her to Brett Jason Hallow. He was known as the player, but he had a special charm. He could cry on command, could convince Kelsey that she was going crazy, that nothing was happening, that she was imagining everything.
“I feel sorry for the girl I was when I was young,” Kelsey would later say, looking at photos from those years. “I feel sorry for myself pregnant, watching him leave for days and not come back.” When Noah was born on September 20th, 2010, Kelsey was 19. Just 3 months later, she was pregnant again. Autumn came into the world when her mother had barely turned 21.
Four years of relationship were filled with betrayal, lies, and emotional abuse. But Kelsey held on for the children’s sake, hoping that everything would work out. In early 2013, she finally found the strength to leave. Kelsey agreed to shared custody. Every Sunday, the children switched between parents. Everything was civilized.
Everything was by the rules. But in 2017, Brett married Sarah K. Nasby, a woman with a dark past and a tendency toward violence. Sarah already had convictions for attacking police officers. She had a habit of filing restraining orders against people, including her own parents. She was a master manipulator in court and gradually slowly but inevitably the children’s lives began to turn into a nightmare.
The first warning bells began in 2016. Noah came home with bruises. At first rarely, then more and more often. Brett and Sarah always found explanations. He fell, got hurt, was playing with other children. But little Autumn saw the truth. Sarah hit Noah for wetting himself. She whispered to her mother one evening when they were getting ready for bed.
Kelsey believed her daughter. She always believed her children. But the system, police, social services, courts refused to listen. Neighbors began calling police complaining about children’s screams coming from apartment 214 at the depot at Elk River Station complex. I just hear screaming. You can sit outside at any time of the day and hear both of them screaming at these kids, cussing at them.
I say at least five times this year at least. He was sitting there with the police. There was no tears in his face. Like if my child had just died 4 hours ago, my face would be red. I would be puffy. I would show emotion. He just sat there. Over 2 years, more than 30 calls. But each time police left with nothing.
By 2019, Noah had become a victim of horrifying abuse. He was forced to eat rotten food, drink liquid soap, sleep on the floor without a blanket. He was tied up, beaten, humiliated. I have to sleep on the floor with no pillow and blanket or I get my arm. Kelsey fought with all her might. She took her son to doctors, appealed to police, begged social services to intervene.
Finally, she made a desperate decision, sacrificed time with Autumn to save Noah. “I thought Autumn would be safe,” she would later say, her voice full of regret. “I thought they had focused all their evil on Noah. I didn’t know. She didn’t know that she had simply transferred the victim role from son to daughter.
That her blonde little girl with dimples would become the new target for their sadistic games. That on January 26th, 2020, when she hugged Autumn for the last time, she was sending her daughter to her death. 8-year-old Autumn Lee Hallow stood at the threshold of her mother’s house, tightly pressing newborn sister Dilla to her chest.
Her blue eyes shone with happiness. She was so proud to be a big sister. Blonde curls framed her face with deep dimples that appeared every time she smiled. “Mama, I’m going to miss you,” she whispered, hugging Kelsey one last time. Kelsey Cruz didn’t know these would be the last words she would hear from her daughter.
Didn’t know she would never again feel those best hugs in the world. didn’t know that in 6 months she would be buying a wig to cover the bald patches on her dead child’s head. At that moment, she simply let her little girl go to her father for another week. As usual, as thousands of times before, but this was the last time Autumn weighed normally for her age, the last time she was healthy, the last time she was happy.
This tragedy could have been prevented if more people had spoken up. If more people had cared enough to act. If you’re still with me watching this story unfold, it shows you’re someone who cares about protecting children. Take a moment to check if you’re subscribed. Your support ensures stories like this reach the people who need to hear them, who might be in a position to help the next child in danger.
From this moment begins a story about how the system created to protect children became an accomplice to murder. A story about how a little girl who only wanted to love and be loved was slowly tortured to death over 199 days of hell that ended with 8-year-old Autumn weighing the same as when she was 4 years old, just 33 lb.
And every day of those 199 days, she called for the mama who couldn’t reach her. What happened after January 26th was a systematic campaign of terror that would break even the strongest adult. But Autumn was just 8 years old. She was a little girl who still believed that if she was good enough, if she followed the rules, someone would come to save her.
In March 2020, when Kelsey arrived to pick up Autumn as scheduled, Brett cited concerns about the COVID pandemic and refused the exchange. As time went on and Brett continued to refuse to send Autumn back or let her speak to her mother on the phone, Kelsey became increasingly concerned through their court approved messaging service.
Sarah wrote to Kelsey, “Autumn is not being withheld from you. Autumn is not here for malicious reasons. We are only following the law, doing what we are told to do for health purposes, and looking out for our family’s best interests during this unprecedented time. But the reality inside apartment 214 was far different from these reassuring words.
Neighbors began hearing children screaming and crying, and they reported it to the Elk River Police Department. Between February 2019 and August 2020, police were called to the apartment 31 times. 31 desperate cries for help that went unanswered. On February 11th, an anonymous caller reported an adult yelling at a child with the caller hearing the adult say, “I will hit you.
” Officers heard children and adults in the apartment, but got no answer when they knocked. On February 21st, another caller reported a child who was quite loud. Police spoke to Brett and Sarah and told them there had been a complaint. What the police couldn’t see, what they chose not to see, was that inside that apartment, a little girl was slowly disappearing.
By this time, Autumn had become the new family scapegoat, the target for all of Brett and Sarah’s sadistic rage. Scapegoating is a dysfunctional family dynamic where one child is blamed for everything that goes wrong. The scapegoat is bullied, taunted, insulted, and neglected. They’re treated as less than human, often pushed into situations where they will disobey and then be punished.
They might be given too little food and then punished for stealing when they’re too hungry to resist or forbidden from going to the bathroom and then punished when they wet their clothes. This is exactly what began happening to Autumn. Brett and Sarah had installed surveillance cameras in their own apartment, not for security, but to document their torture.
They filmed themselves abusing these children, creating evidence of their own monstrous crimes. On June 19th, 2019, 8-year-old Noah had just gotten out of the shower when Sarah began cleaning his ear for approximately 15 minutes. When he finally fought back, she slapped him hard enough to make him cry loudly.
Instead of stopping her, Brett became angry and kicked his son in the rib cage. He stood over the little boy, called him a little [ __ ] and put his hands around Noah’s neck. 4 days later, another incident was captured on camera. Sarah told Noah his head was going to go through the wall if he didn’t eat his food. But this wasn’t normal food.
It was rotten, moldy food that Noah had hidden in the bathroom. The smell was so bad that Brett had to leave the bathroom at times. When Noah bit Sarah in response to being forced to eat the spoiled food, she told him she would kill him. She punched him with a closed fist and pushed a washcloth into his mouth to muffle his screams.
Over the course of 6 hours, they physically forced the little boy to eat the rotting food. Once Noah was safely with his mother, all of that rage, all of that sadistic pleasure in causing pain was transferred to Autumn. The little girl who loved gymnastics, who wrote sweet notes to her family, who gave the best hugs in the world, became the new target.
By the spring of 2020, Autumn was being systematically starved, beaten, and tortured. Sarah admitted she was in charge of food in the household and gave Autumn very little food and water for the last several months of her life. The child was often confined to the bathroom for days at a time, tied up using a gray sweatshirt and bound to the wall with a belt.
Brett testified that the other children were told to ignore Autumn because paying any attention to her would make Sarah angry. Sarah’s daughter was sometimes made to keep watch over Autumn while she was tied up, forcing another child to become complicit in the abuse. While restrained, Autumn had to stand in the living room and stare at certain spots on the wall.
Anytime she looked away, Brett would kick her to the ground. In one particularly cruel incident, Autumn was restrained on the living room floor while the rest of the family ate. Already starving and dehydrated, she was tied up and zipped into a red sleeping bag with only her head protruding. Brett put a plate of food on the floor and said if she was really hungry, she’d figure out a way to eat it.
The psychological torture was as devastating as the physical abuse. Autumn was being taught that she was worthless, that she didn’t deserve food, that she didn’t deserve love or basic human dignity. By August 2020, Autumn was hardly able to stand on her own and could barely speak. She was underweight and fragile.
Her eyes were droopy. She had been throwing up for days because her bowel had been perforated from the repeated beatings. She was already suffering from internal bleeding in her belly. Sarah testified that Autumn had been confined to the bathroom for a couple of days because she had been throwing up a lot, but the reality was far worse.
Brett admitted that Autumn was often confined to the bathroom for days at a time, sometimes forced to do chores for up to 6 hours a day. When she wasn’t doing chores, she spent the majority of her time tied up in the bathroom. The little girl who once danced and did cartwheels, who sang and filled the house with laughter, was now a skeletal figure barely clinging to life.
She weighed only 33 lb, the same weight she had been at 4 years old. A healthy eight-year-old should weigh at least 70 pounds. On the morning of August 13th, 2020, Brett had been awake all night playing video games. Around 8:00 a.m., Sarah woke up, and Brett asked if she wanted to watch the Shark Week TV shows they had recorded. They watched television while a dying child lay in their bathroom calling for her mother.
At some point, Brett fell asleep and woke up around noon to the sound of arguing in the bathroom. He heard Sarah telling Autumn to clean up the mess on the floor. Mess from her own vomiting caused by the internal injuries they had inflicted. He heard Autumn say she would rather die than clean up the mess. Those words, “I would rather die.
” from an 8-year-old child who had been tortured beyond endurance sent Brett into a final murderous rage. What happened next was captured in Brett’s own testimony. Angry at Autumn’s words, he grabbed her by the shoulder, picked her up by the neck and whipped her around. He yelled at her for saying she wouldn’t clean up the mess.
Sarah then grabbed Autumn by the throat, and pushed her against the wall, holding her there for about 10 seconds before letting go. Autumn fell to the floor. Brett kicked her in the rib cage and told her to get up. But this kick was different from all the others. This time he kicked with such force that something inside Autumn’s fragile body finally gave way.
The little girl, who had endured months of torture, who had lost most of her hair, who weighed only 33 lb, could take no more. Brett later claimed he went back to the couch and fell asleep again. Sarah said she took pills for a shoulder injury and lost track of time, but sometime that afternoon, they realized that Autumn was no longer responsive.
Sarah claimed she found Autumn lying in the tub with stuff coming out of her mouth. She wasn’t awake and her eyes were glazed over, but the medical evidence would later show that Autumn had been dead for hours before they called for help. When they finally brought her unconscious body to the hospital, Brett lied, claiming Autumn had been jumping on the bed and fell, hitting her head.
He said he had given her an ice pack and only brought her to the hospital when her head continued to hurt. But Autumn’s tortured body told a completely different horrifying story. The medical examiner found puncture wounds on her head, internal bleeding in her abdomen and brain. But most horrifying, Autumn suffered from severe cushexia, complete emaciation with absence of fatty tissue, and significant hair loss.
Most of her beautiful golden curls had fallen out from malnutrition. The girl who once danced and did cartwheels weighed the same as she had at 4 years old. Her body showed signs of prolonged restraint, marks from belts and ropes on her wrists and ankles. Detectives discovered hours of recordings showing the last months of Autumn’s life, recordings that the monsters themselves had created as evidence against themselves.
The video showed how emaciated Autumn was forced to stand against the wall for hours staring at specific points. If she looked away, even for a second, Brett would kick her in the stomach so hard that she would fall to the floor. The most heartbreaking recording showed how Autumn, already dying of hunger, was tied up on the living room floor while the whole family ate at the table.
She was stuffed into a red sleeping bag, leaving only her head outside. Brett placed a plate of food on the floor in front of her and said, “If you’re really hungry, you’ll find a way to eat it.” The 8-year-old girl couldn’t reach the food with her tied hands. And they knew it. Other children in the house told detectives the truth that adults refused to see.
A six-year-old boy described how Autumn was tied with a belt and then placed in a sleeping bag, leaving only her head outside. A 10-year-old girl told how she was forced to watch over tied up Autumn, turning another child into an accomplice to the cruelty. “We were told to ignore Autumn because any attention to her would make Sarah angry,” testified one of the children.
“Autumn was punished for trying to get food, for urinating, for crying too loudly from pain. She was often locked in the bathroom for days at a time, forced to do housework for up to 6 hours a day. When she wasn’t working, she spent most of her time tied up. On August 14th, 2020, Brett and Sarah were arrested.
Initially, they denied everything, but the cameras didn’t lie. Faced with irrefutable evidence, in June 2021, both pleaded guilty to secondderee murder. In court, Sarah wept as she described Autumn’s final days. She confessed that she controlled the food in the house and gave Autumn very little food and water in the last months of her life.
Brett confessed to kicking, beating, and strangling, but their tears in court were too late. Where were these tears when an 8-year-old girl begged for food? Where was the remorse when she called for the mama who couldn’t reach her? On September 23rd, 2021, Judge Karen B. Screnced both to 40 years in prison, the maximum penalty considering particular cruelty.
In court, Kelsey read her statement. After Autumn was taken to the funeral home, I saw her for the first time. I walked into the room and she was lying there lifeless and small. Her head was shaved. There were marks on her face and scalp. I find peace knowing that my children will never have to look into the eyes of their abusers again.
Autumn no longer feels fear. Unloved or unwanted. She is safe. But the sentence couldn’t answer the main question. How could Autumn die when so many people begged for help? 31 police calls in 2 years. Neighbors recorded children’s screams on their phones. Kelsey begged every official she could find.
Doctors noted suspicious injuries. Teachers saw changes in the children’s behavior. And every time the system said, “This is not our jurisdiction. Go to court. We cannot intervene without direct evidence.” When a police officer came to check on Autumn in June, Brett wouldn’t let him in. The officer agreed to let the girl wave to him from the balcony. That was enough.
He left, not knowing he was seeing a dying child. Kelsey filed a $30 million lawsuit against all the agencies that failed her daughter. Not for money, for change. This will help get justice for her, too, says Kelsey. In her front yard, she planted a maple tree called Autumn Blaze.
I see it every day, and it will grow with us, just like she would have today. Having heard this story, you know the name Autumn Lee Hallow. You know that she gave the best hugs in the world. That she wrote notes saying, “Have a happy heart, not a sad heart.” that she dreamed of becoming a gymnast. You also know that she died because the adults who should have protected her chose paperwork and procedures over a child’s life.
Her voice was silenced, but you heard her story. Now, make sure no one else goes through the same thing because somewhere right now, another child is calling for help. And this time, someone must hear. If you suspect child abuse, don’t stay silent. Call child protective services. Keep calling until someone hears. DCS was at the house the day this child passed away and had no idea.
No child or human being should be treated the way she was. Now for what’s trending in true crime. An Indiana community is asking for a change in the child welfare system after a 5-year-old girl was allegedly starved to death. In the summer of 2025, a trial will begin in Marian County Court that will shake the entire country.
A mother, her boyfriend, and a grandmother will face justice for one of the most horrifying crimes against a child in Indiana’s history. A little girl who loved singing Taylor Swift songs and watching cartoons spent the last 127 days of her life in confinement, slowly starving to death while dozens of adults walked by, including those who had sworn to protect children from abuse.
Warning, the content may be disturbing for some viewers. This material is presented for educational purposes to understand systemic problems in child protection services. On December 3rd, 2018, Kinsley Welty was born in Morsville, Indiana. She was the daughter of Tony Mccclure and Bradley Welty. The blue-eyed blonde little girl with chubby cheeks was a happy child who loved making people around her laugh.
She enjoyed taking her father’s hat to be silly and could spend hours singing Taylor Swift’s You Need to Calm Down with her grandparents. Her favorite cartoons were Paw Patrol and Bubble Guppies, and she loved playing dress up and changing hairstyles. In a happy family along with her siblings, she could have grown up surrounded by love. But Fate had other plans.
Friends, take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a comment with your city and time. Your participation will help this important information reach those who need it most. Hell for little Kinsley began almost from birth. When she was just 3 weeks old, her family called emergency services because of Tony’s medical problems.
The officers who arrived discovered conditions they later described as some of the worst they had ever seen. The house was a nightmare. Trash appeared to never have been taken out. Flies and maggots swarmed around the kitchen and living room. In the bathroom, the toilet was filled with feces that seemed to have never been cleaned.
The couch and mattresses were covered in dirt. 3-week old Kinsley was lying on a floor littered with rubbish, dirt, and cigarette butts. Her one-year-old sibling was crawling on the floor next to her. Within reach of the children were full ashtrays, moldy food, and sharp objects. It was a miracle the children were unharmed. Officers immediately noticed that Kinsley was malnourished with pale lips and a dry mouth.
She had lost weight since leaving the hospital in a condition where her body couldn’t develop normally. When officers gave her a bottle of milk, the baby drank with such hunger as if she hadn’t eaten for days. After discovering these conditions, both Tony and Bradley were arrested. Tony was charged with four counts of child abuse, Bradley with two.
Eventually, Tony pleaded guilty to one count. The others were dropped and was sentenced to 900 days in jail. However, she only served 21 days before being released on probation for 540 days. While Tony was in jail, Kinsley and her sibling were removed from the home. Kinsley lived for some time in a foster home. Her foster mother loved her and even wanted to adopt her.
Then she lived with her paternal grandparents, Trisha and Brian Welty. But because of family reunification policies, child protective services returned Kinsley to Tony after her release. This policy aimed at keeping families together proved fatal for the little girl. In the following years, Kinsley was taken from Tony’s home several times.
Child protective services received numerous reports of abuse, but each time they eventually returned her to her mother. When Kinsley was removed for the second time and given to her grandparents, she was, according to them, bruised from head to toe with clumps of hair missing all over her head.
She was dirty and the living conditions in the house remained as terrible as ever. In 2021, after another welfare check, Kinsley’s paternal grandparents expressed concerns that their granddaughter might die. I pleaded pleaded with DCS before that court case my concerns about all that every bit of it and I was ignored. However, due to an improperly conducted investigation by child protective services, the case was presented in court without proper evidence.
As a result, the court ordered Kinsley to be returned to Tony. By this time, Bradley no longer lived with Tony. Tony had a new boyfriend, 27-year-old Ryan Smith, who moved in with her and lived in the house for about six, seven months. In March 20th, 23, Tony had another baby. Now, there were six children living in the house, including Kinsley’s four-year-old and six-year-old brothers and the infant from Ryan.
According to Ryan, Kinsley hated him because he wasn’t her real father. This created an even more tense atmosphere in the house. November 20th, 23 marked the beginning of the most horrible period in 5-year-old Kinsley’s life. On Thanksgiving, Tony made a decision that would turn the last months of her daughter’s life into a real hell.
Kinsley was placed in a small closet in her brother’s bedroom. The door was blocked by a dresser, so she couldn’t get out. This wasn’t a temporary punishment. It became her new home for the next 127 days. Imagine a closet smaller than a regular bathroom. A space covered in human excrement, including handprints made with feces on the walls, the air saturated with the smell of urine and feces, empty containers, a stale peanut butter sandwich, and a hot dog bun lying on the floor.
In this closet, 5-year-old Kinsley spent almost every minute of her last months. In the darkness of the closet, little Kinsley tried to call for help, begging for food, banging and scratching at the door, but her mother ignored her daughter’s please, and the family went on with life as usual, getting used to the fact that little Kinsley was just an annoying voice behind the wall.
According to Ryan Smith, during the last 3 to four months of her life, she was only let out about 10 times. This means she could spend weeks in confinement without a break. Kinsley’s brothers confirmed this horrible reality. Her four-year-old brother described the closet as a cage and said that his sister was there around the clock, which made him sad.
The six-year-old brother said that unlike other children who were punished by standing in the corner, Kinsley was always returned to the closet after such punishment. Tony barely fed her daughter despite Kinsley’s constant pleas for food and water. According to Tony herself, the phrase, “I am hungry and thirsty,” became Kinsley’s slogan.
She received at most one small meal a day, if anything at all. The six-year-old brother told investigators that when the family ordered pizza, Kinsley was never allowed to have any, because she was always bad. The boy explained that Kinsley slept on the floor and was forced to use the bathroom right in the closet.
By April 20th, 24, at 5 years old, Kinsley weighed only 21 lb, exactly the same as she had weighed at 2 and 1/2 years old. The normal weight for a 5-year-old girl is about 40 lb. In addition to hunger and isolation, Kinsley suffered physical abuse. She had bruises around her right eye and cheekbone.
Tony later admitted to hitting her daughter’s legs after she bit her. Kinsley’s hair was cut short, infested with lice, and matted with feces. Her stomach was covered with unknown bites and soores. Her hands and feet also had feces on them. Ryan Smith knew about the situation from the very beginning. He claimed that he begged Tony to treat Kinsley better and even threatened to call 911.
But his love for Tony and fear that all her children would be taken away stopped him. He admitted that about a month before Kinsley’s death, he cleaned the closet when feces had piled up in the corner. He said he never fed Kinsley or interacted with her while she was in confinement.
But the most shocking role was Kinsley’s grandmother, 53-year-old Tammy Holly. She not only knew what was going on, but also directed and actively participated in the abuse. In the summer of 2023, when Kinsley sometimes stayed overnight at Tammy’s house, Tammy would duct tape her to the bed so she couldn’t get up at night to eat.
At first, Tammy taped Kinsley’s hands and feet. But when that wasn’t enough, she started taping the child’s entire body. All this was done with a single purpose, to prevent the starving child from accessing food. Tammy also helped Tony hide Kinsley from child protective services. She warned her daughter about social workers visits and never told them about Kinsley’s whereabouts, even as she saw her granddaughter’s condition deteriorating month by month.
On April 7th and 8th, 2024, just days before her death, Kinsley was taken to family parties. At both events, Tammy immediately sent her to stand in the corner because she was in trouble, where she spent hours, including while watching the solar eclipse on April 8th. On the day of Kinsley’s death, April 9th, child protective services visited Tony’s home.
They came to check on the newborn who had tested positive for THC, but they never saw Kinsley, who was hidden under a blanket in another room. Tony told social workers that Kinsley was at her grandparents’ house. She later admitted to investigators that she was afraid if social workers had seen Kinsley’s condition, they would have taken all her children away.
The system failed Kinsley again, who spent her last hours alive just steps away from people who could have saved her had they been persistent in wanting to see her in person. On April 9th, 2024, around 5:15 p.m., Indianapolis police received a call about a child showing no signs of life. It was Tony’s home on Denver Drive.
When paramedics arrived, they found 5-year-old Kinsley lying motionless on the living room floor. They immediately began resuscitation efforts and urgently transported her to Riley Children’s Hospital, but it was too late. Kinsley Wely died in the hospital that same day. An autopsy later confirmed that the cause of death was starvation and prolonged neglect.
At first, Tony tried to avoid responsibility. She told investigators that Kinsley had spent the last 2 and 1/2 months with Bradley, who was allegedly struggling with addiction. According to her, she had picked up Kinsley from him that same day at McDonald’s. According to Tony’s version, within 20, 30 minutes of returning home, Kinsley suddenly lost consciousness and liquid poured from the girl’s mouth.
But this story quickly fell apart. Tony couldn’t provide either Bradley’s address or his current phone number. It was also revealed that Bradley had not seen his children for a long time. After police searching the house and discovering the horrible closet, Tony confessed to her crimes. She told investigators that she began placing Kinsley in the closet around Thanksgiving 2023.
She admitted to feeding her daughter minimally, although the child constantly complained of hunger and thirst. The most shocking confession was Tony’s statement that she wished Kinsley had never been born and wanted her out of her life. On April 15th, 2024, Tony Mccclure was charged with murder, criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury, and battery on a person under 14 years of age.
The Marian County prosecutor stated that he would seek life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Ryan Smith was charged with three counts of neglect and criminal confinement. Tammy Hulsey initially received one charge of neglect resulting in death. However, after the discovery of shocking Facebook messages with her daughter, where they regularly discussed ways to punish Kinsley, she was charged with an additional five counts of neglect and one count of failing to report neglect.
One by one, they filed into Judge Mark Stoner’s courtroom to sit at the defense table and hear the charges against them. Bondsman to be released. You are free to go ahead and post that bond if you wish, but if you do, you do need you still need to come back Thursday at 11 o’clock. Uh, one thing you should know as a practical matter, if the state decides not to file charges against you or they file charges that are less than neglect of a dependent or your bond would be uh automatically reduced, the bondsman doesn’t have to give you the
money back. It’s up to you. I just want to make sure you know that as a practical matter. So, I will see you on Thursday at 11:00. We’ll find out if the state’s filing charges and if they are, what those charges are. Okay? And I’ll see you Thursday at 11. Your honor, this case is still under seal. That states motion order file April 13th.
Mr. H. Yes, your honor. Are you on you the prosecutor on this case? I It has not been assigned in our office. I am currently just representing our office at this time. All right. All right. State would request that it remains under steel at this time. And what’s your statutory authority for that? I’m not aware of any statutory authority other than the defendant actually being placed into custody.
And she clearly is in custody. That’s correct, your honor. Based on our our motion filed, that was our reasoning. Um I don’t believe I have any additional statutory authority at this time. Um I’ I’ve been busy doing other things, Mr. H. So, I don’t have your motion in front of me. So, can you can you just give me the statutory site or the authority the state believes it has? Well, your honor, the state um the matter is still under investigation.
Um I believe they’re still um investigating other people who may be involved in this matter and they still intend to um make further arrest in this matter. Um so, at this time, the state would request that it remains under seal um for those purposes. Would it be fair to say that you don’t have statutory authority for that? I I don’t believe so, your honor.
I believe it would be to protect the integrity of the case. In the state’s order, it’s it’s mentioned that it’s until defendant is taken into custody. So, we’d have to have a new proposed order asking for something different than that. Well, Hang on, Mr. Cons. So, you’re I’m opening up the file now.
In terms of Holly, I’m looking at the motion to seal, which is dated April 13th. Is that the motion you’re referring to, Mr. Hail, or was there a subsequent request after she was taken into custody? We just have that initial request, your honor. If we could just have it till the end of the day. I spoke with the charging prosecutor on this.
Um, and if we could just have until the end of the day before it is unsealed. All right. The court will order the uh matter unsealed uh effective 4:00 this afternoon. I don’t believe there is any further statutory authority to keep it sealed that I’m aware of. And that again is under 353411. Yes, sir. All right. Anything further from the state? Um, I don’t. Let me double check.
Mr. Connor, does that cover everything? Yes. Yeah. All right. State versus Ryan. See, Missy, we’ll see you Thursday at 1:00 or 11:00, I’m sorry. State versus Ryan Smith. Ryan Smith. Ryan Smith is here under 49D 322404 F10502. Mr. Smith, I’m Judge Stoner. I’ll be handling your case at least through the end of the year. The Mr.
Smith, you’re here for your initial hearing. I’m here to tell you what the state has charged you with. I’ll advise you of your rights. Uh, and we’ll give you a copy of the charges. First off, do you read well enough to be able to read those charges to yourself? You should have the charges right in front of you. Yes, sir.
All right. In the upper left hand corner, did they spell your name correctly? Yes, sir. And is your date of birth correct? September 25, 1996. Yes, sir. So, makes you what? 37. No, 27. 27. Bad math. Okay. All right. Mr. Smith, if you look in the upper right hand corner, you’ll see what the state has charged you with.
Neglect of a dependent resulting in death is a level one felony. Mr. Hale in some situations the level one felony can be in increased to 50 years. It doesn’t appear to be that situation in this one. Is that correct? That’s how it appears to me as well, your honor. All right. So, Mr. Smith, count one, uh, the states charged you with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, level one felony that carries a potential penalty of up to 40 years in prison.
Count two is also neglect of a dependent resulting in death. That also carries potential penalty of up to 40 years in prison. Count three is neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Also carries potential penalty of up to 40 years in prison. Count four is criminal confinement. That’s a level three felony that carries a potential penalty of up to 16 years in prison.
And Mr. Smith. All felonies carry fines of up to $10,000. Now, the court will enter an automatic plea of not guilty for you. That’ll become a formal plea in 20 days unless you change your plea after you’ve had a chance to talk to a lawyer. Now, on the subject of a lawyer, if you’re planning on hiring a lawyer, you’ll want to do it in the next 20 days because there are certain deadlines and defenses that come up in the next 20 days that you want to make sure that you don’t miss.
Now, if you can’t afford a lawyer, I can appoint one to represent you at little or no charge to you if you qualify for it, and I’ll get to that in just a minute. You have certain other constitutional rights. You have a right to a public and speedy trial by jury and you have a right to remain silent. Mr. Smith, if you talk about this case with anyone other than your lawyer, including even to me, that potentially could be used against you.
Do you understand those rights, sir? Yes, sir. All right. The court is setting your trial date for June the 24th at 8:30 in the morning. Your pre-trial and omnibus date are June the 18th at 1:00. Now, your omnibus date, Mr. Smith, that is a deadline date for your lawyer to file certain motions if they apply in your case.
Your lawyer will know what that means. Now, on the subject of an attorney, are you planning on hiring counsel or you’re requesting a public defender? I’m going to get one, sir. Okay. But you haven’t done so yet? No. All right. So, what I’m going to do then, Mr. Smith, I’m going to set this down for a review of counsel in about 3 weeks.
And that review of counsel is set there because of that 20-day deadline in terms of defenses and things coming up that you want to make sure that you get taken care of. So, if I set you out in three weeks, that will take me to Hold on a second. April 16th. We’ll set that for May the 8th at 9:30. Now, the way that’ll work, Mr. Smith, is if you hire the lawyer, the lawyer will file an appearance with the court.
The appearance will go in the court file. I’ll know the problems been taken care of and I won’t need to see you on May the 8th. I’ll just see you with your lawyer on your scheduled pre-trial date of June the 18th. Now, if you haven’t hired the lawyer, you need to come back to the court on May the 8th at 9:30 to let me know what your situation is.
Here’s the one thing you don’t want to do. Fail to hire the lawyer and blow off the hearing. You don’t want to do that because if you do that, I just issue a warrant for your arrest and you go back to jail. Okay. Your bond is under 50,000 shy. I show it’s already been posted. That’ll remain the same. The state has requested do not have contact with the civilian witnesses on this case.
So there is a no contact order. That no contact order applies to S. I realize is not your case and you’re left holding the bag, but I can’t advise him of people with initials. That doesn’t it makes doesn’t give any effect to the no contact order. Do we have an actual list of the actual names? Let me build the witness list. Your honor, Mr.
Connor, do we have a list of Yes. Okay. I have them. I just didn’t have them in the computer. Okay. So, Mr. Smith, you’re not to have contact with Jordine Brewster, Melinda Brunet, Jackie Burke, Marjgerie Carter, Kelly Collins, Vicky Gray, David Hallyy, Jaden Holden, Constance Lewis, Lana Mccclure, Alexander Santiago, Dakota Smith, Michelle Smith, Bradley Weltley Jr., and Philip Welty.
I’m sorry. I said it’s Bradley Welty Jr. and Philip Wely or Phy Welty. The names are actually in your first paragraph here in case I’ve mispronounced them. The only person can have contact with those folks on your behalf is your lawyer, whoever that lawyer is. Now, you want to make sure your family and friends understand that because if there’s a violation of the no contact order, you potentially could be punished for it.
Uh, and so you want to make sure everybody understands. Let your lawyer, whoever that is, let your lawyer do your talking for you. I do need for you to sign for the no contact order. The only thing your signature means, Mr. Smith, is that I’ve told you about the no contact order. Once you sign it, we’ll scan it into the into the computer.
We’ll give it right back to you. Okay? And so that does take care of your initial hearing today, Mr. Smith. Good luck. And I’ll either see you on June the 18th with your attorney at 1:00 or if you don’t have counsel, I’ll see you May 8th at 9:30 in the morning. Okay, you’re free to go. State is Tony Mccclure in Tony Mccclure.
Initial hearing All right, Mr. Mccclure. Good morning. I’m Judge Stoner. I’ll be handling your case. You are here for your initial hearing. I’m here to tell you what the state has charged you with. I’ll enter a not guilty plea for you and I’ll advise you of your rights. First, you should have a copy of the charges against you.
Do you read well enough to be able to read those to yourself? Yes. And in the upper left hand corner, did they spell your name correctly? Yes. And how about your date of birth? December 20, 1994. Is that correct? Yes. That makes you 29. Yes, sir. All right, Miss McCclure. In the upper right hand corner, you’ll see the states charged you with count one murder.
That carries a potential penalty up to 65 years in prison. court should further advise you that the court that the state has uh filed an additional pleading on that murder count uh requesting uh that uh you receive life imprisonment without parole. The murder charge would carry a maximum penalty up to 65 years.
If you were subse if at some point you’re convicted of the murder charge and if the state wishes to proceed further uh if the state can prove aggravating circumstances that a jury or a trier fact would have to find you could be confined uh to the department of correction for the rest of your life. That’s on count one. On count two, the states charged you with criminal confinement as a level three felony.
That carries a potential penalty of up to 16 years in prison. Count three is battery on a person less than 14 years old. That’s a level six felony and that carries a potential penalty of up to two and a half years in prison. And Miss McClure, all felonies carry fines of up to $10,000. As the I indicated to you earlier, the court will enter an automatic plea of not guilty for you.
That’ll become a formal plea in 20 days unless you change your plea after you’ve had a chance to talk to a lawyer. Now, you have a right to a lawyer to represent you. If you’re going to hire one, you want to do it in the next 20 days because there are certain deadlines and defenses that come up in the next 20 days that you want to make sure that you don’t miss.
Now, if you can’t afford an attorney, I can appoint one to represent you at little or no charge to you if you qualify for it. And I’ll get to that in just a minute. You have certain other constitutional rights, ma’am. You have a right to a public and speedy trial by jury and you have a right to remain silent.
Miss Mccclure, if you talk about this case with anyone other than your lawyer, including even to me, that potentially could be used against you. Do you understand those rights, ma’am? Yes. All right. The court is setting your trial date for June the 24th at 8:30 in the morning. Your pre-trial and your omnibus date are June the 18th at 1:00.
Now, your omnibus date, ma’am, that is a deadline date for your lawyer to file certain motions if they apply in your case. Your lawyer will know what that means. Now, on the subject of a lawyer, are you planning on hiring counsel or do you need a public defender? All right. I will need to take some testimony from you to make sure that you’re eligible for that.
Could you raise your hand for me? You promise what you’re about to tell me is going to be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth under pain and penalty of perjury. All right, you can put your hand down, ma’am. Before you were arrested, were you working any place? No. Okay.
Do you have any money saved up in the bank or saved any place else? Do you have any other source of income like an inheritance, a trust, stocks and bonds, dividends, anything like that? Do you support anyone besides yourself? Okay. And how many? Okay. And do you have any source of income in terms of child support for them? At what address were you living? Uh 6519 Denver.
Okay. Was that a place that you were renting or buying? Renting. Okay. Do you own anything of value? Like a valuable stamp, a book, car, boat, anything like that? Yeah, it’s car, but it’s not in my name. Okay. And uh how old a car is it? Suzuki. Sedan. I really I don’t I know it’s a Suzuki. Okay.
What’s the most valuable piece of property you think you do own? The car. I don’t even own it, so nothing. Okay. All right. All right. The court finds defendant is in it and appoints public defender to represent you. Who will the public defender assign? It’ll be Dina Martin and Sheree Monsor. All right.
Miss Martin will be assigned to represent you. The public defenders office will give you her information as to how you can get in contact with her. The state has requested that you not have contact with the civilian witnesses on this case. I’m sorry, who is Melinda Bar? Well, you may not know who those people are and so if you don’t know them, you won’t have any problem contacting them.
Okay? But these are these are the witnesses the state of Indiana has listed as having evidence against you. And so the only person that can contact those people on your behalf is Miss Martin. That’s why you’ve got the lawyer. Okay? And that does apply to Jordan Brewster, Melinda Brunet, Jackie Burke, Marjgerie Carter, Kelly Collins, Vicky Gray, David Hollyy, Jaden Holden, Constance Lewis, Lana Mccclure, Alexander Santiago, Dakota Smith, Michelle Smith, Bradley Welty Jr.
, and Philly Welty. Again, the only person that can have contact with those folks on your behalf is Miss Martin. further order in the no contact order. You’re not to have any firearms, deadly weapons, ammunition in your possession. And you want to make sure family and friends understand about the no contact order because if there’s a violation of the no contact order, you potentially could be punished.
You are being held without bond because you are being uh charged with murder. Uh, but even if you’re in in custody, if there’s a violation of the no contact order, you could be placed in deadlock. So, you want to make sure everyone understands, let Miss Martin do your talking for you. Okay. As I indicated earlier, you are being held without bond um because of the murder charge.
And Miss Martin, anything else at this point? No, your honor. All right, that’ll Miss McCclure, that’ll complete your initial hearing. State versus Kevin Mata under two cause numbers. Bill set for initial hearings. Kevin Mata Outside the home where Kinsley suffered.
A makeshift memorial grew. Flowers, balloons, and a card reading, “Forever five, always in our hearts, baby Kinsley,” marked the spot where a community came to grieve a child most had never met. The community reacted strongly to the little girl’s fate. The actions of the DCS once again caused irritation and indignation.
On April 28th, 2024, Kinsley’s family and their supporters gathered at the Indiana State House. They demanded reform of the state agency for child protection, arguing that social workers should have intervened earlier. If the parents aren’t going to love and protect them, and the state’s not, who’s going to protect them? 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. It’s not right. She was in our home and she was safe and she was loved and she was handed back to her abuser and she’s not here anymore. When she came to us the second time, she was bruised from head to toe. She had clumps of hair missing throughout her whole head.
and she was given back and she had already tried to starve her to death when she was 3 weeks old and they gave her back. A private funeral service was held for Kinsley at the Meredith Clark Funeral Home in Morgantown. She was laid to rest at East Hill Cemetery beneath a beautiful black heart-shaped headstone.
Her image is complimented with engravings of butterflies and the words, “Too precious for this world.” As of May 20th, 25, the case is still pending. A jury trial is set for June 20th, 25. As of June 20th, 24, Ryan Smith was released on $50,000 bail, while Tony Mccclure and Tammy Hollyy were being held in the Maran County Jail.
The blue-eyed Kinsley who loved Taylor Swift songs will never sing again. But her story should sound like a bell calling for changes in the child protection system so that no child ever experiences the hell that Kinsley Welty went through in her last 127 days. Rest in peace, Little Angel Kinsley. I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who watched this video all the way through.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this case in the comments. And please don’t forget to subscribe to my channel. I’d also like to send a special thank you to everyone who has donated to support my channel. Your support means the world to me and gives me the motivation to keep making new and interesting investigations for you, my wonderful viewers.
Thank you all so much.
