This article includes additional reporting from FOX59/CBS4’s Jesse Wells.

INDIANAPOLIS — Prosecutors have now officially charged an Indianapolis mom and her live-in boyfriend in the “horrific” death of a 5-year-old girl who police said was rarely fed and forced to live in a feces-covered closet. Charges against the child’s grandma are expected soon.

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Monday that Toni McClure and Ryan Smith, both Indianapolis residents, have been charged for their alleged roles in the April 9 death of McClure’s daughter Kinsleigh Welty. The child’s grandma, Tammy Halsey, has also been arrested.

“This happened over a long period of time,” Mears said. “The mother took proactive steps to prevent this child from eating and didn’t provide proper nourishment.”

Kinsleigh’s death

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was called just before 5:15 p.m. last Tuesday to the 6500 block of Denver Drive, a mobile home park on the city’s southwest side, on a report of an unresponsive child.

Officers arrived to find an unresponsive 5-year-old girl, later identified as Kinsleigh Welty, inside the house. IMPD noted that Kinsleigh “immediately appeared to be malnourished” and had fecal matter and lice on her head, hair and feet. 

EMS crews took Kinsleigh to Riley Hospital for Children where she later died from severe malnutrition. The girl weighed less at 5 years old than when she was 2, court docs show.

Inside the home, police claim they found a small closet covered in fecal matter where the girl was forced to spend most of her time. Police said a dresser blocked the bedroom closet. 

“What we’re alleging is they put a dresser in front of the closet to prevent the child from leaving,” said Prosecutor Mears, “and all this child needed was a safe place to sleep and food.”

The girl’s mother, identified as McClure, told police that she routinely put the victim in the closet and did the bare minimum to feed her, even though she often complained of hunger. She also said she knew her actions would kill her daughter, but she wanted the child out of her life.

Police also claim the mother’s boyfriend, Smith, admitted the victim had been kept in the closet since Thanksgiving and was rarely allowed out. He told police he was concerned the girl was losing weight, but didn’t want to call 911 because he loved the girl’s mother.

“I think there was an awareness of what was going on and people had an obligation to act and that didn’t happen in this case,” said Mears.

IMPD Chief Chris Bailey called Kinsleigh’s death “horrific” and “beyond comprehension” after McClure and Smith were arrested last week. To read full statements from Chief Bailey and Prosecutor Mears, scroll to the bottom of this article.

Official charges

Following Kinsleigh’s death, McClure now faces several felony charges, including:

• Murder
• Criminal confinement (level 3 felony)
• Battery (level 6 felony)

Additionally, prosecutors have filed a request with the Court asking for a Life Without Parole Sentencing Enhancement against the mother. They say this was an option because the victim was less than 12 years old and was tortured.

Given her murder charge, McClure is being held without bond pending trial.

Prosecutors have also charged Smith, who was living at McClure’s house when Kinsleigh died, with:

• Neglect of a dependent (level 1 felony)
  • 3 counts
• Criminal confinement (level 3 felony)

Both McClure and Smith were set to make their initial hearings on Monday. However, computer issues delayed the hearings to Tuesday.

New arrest

IMPD confirmed this week that officers had also arrested Kinsleigh’s grandmother Tammy Halsey.

Halsey, a 53-year-old Indianapolis resident, was taken into custody on Sunday afternoon. She was later booked into Marion County Jail and preliminarily charged with neglect of a dependent, IMPD said.

In a release sent Monday afternoon, Marion County prosecutors said Halsey will be officially charged “at a later date.”

Court records claim Halsey admitted she should have done something to get Kinsleigh help when she first noticed that things were not right with the 5-year-old.

Halsey told police that Child Services had been at their house in Mooresville four times looking for Kinsleigh and McClure due to reports on the child’s condition. She said she never helped DCS locate McClure for any of the reports and that she wanted to give the mom a chance to get everything together for Kinsleigh.

The grandmother said she saw how Kinsleigh’s physical condition worsened over the last 5-6 months. She stated Kinsleigh was last “completely normal” around October of 2023. She added that she thought about calling the police but said she never did because she did not want to risk McClure losing custody of her other children.

Court records also claim Halsey admitted tying the girl to the bed using duct tape while staying at her home. She allegedly did this because Kinsleigh would not stay in bed as she wanted to get up to eat and drink. It is unknown how the child was tied, how long she was tied or if she was injured.

Previous neglect allegations

Court documents show McClure was charged with neglect in December 2018 because her then 3-week-old baby girl was suffering from failure to thrive. The baby’s name was redacted from court documents in 2018, but family members have confirmed that Kinsleigh was the victim in the previous case.

At the time, police officers responding to McClure’s home in Mooresville said it was “one of the worst living conditions [they’d] ever seen” and a “repulsive sight.”

“It appeared the trash had never been taken out,” the responding officer wrote. “Nats (sic) were flying all over the kitchen and living room.”

In the bathroom, police noted that feces had never been cleaned from the toilet. Rooms were described as “hazardous nightmares for an adult, let alone a toddler and newborn.”

When observing the 3-week-old Kinsleigh, police noticed she was shaking and appeared malnourished. Doctors later observed the newborn and said she was in a “failure to thrive” state and had somehow lost weight in her first three weeks of life. She reportedly had “filth on her head and little hands,” court docs show.

Online court records show that McClure pled guilty to one count of neglect in May of 2020. She got a little more than 400 days probation after the judge in that case suspended her sentence.

Court records released Monday pointed out the challenges DCS had investigating the case, noting that there had been multiple Child Services reports and assessments made for various incidents of neglect involving Kinsleigh and McClure. It appeared that officials had trouble locating Kinsleigh to conduct several more recent DCS investigations.

Community and family reaction

In the aftermath of Kinsleigh Welty’s death, the child’s family was devastated.

“It’s horrific,” said the victim’s grandfather, Brian Welty. “It’s going to obviously be a memory I’ll have my entire life, that my granddaughter basically starved to death and it could have been avoided.”

Welty said he cared for Kinsleigh on two different occasions before she was returned to her mother’s custody. He was devastated to hear about the poor conditions his granddaughter was forced to endure and said her mother was “wicked.”

“She’s a wicked woman,” Welty said. “That’s all I can say.”

Other family members agreed.

“This poor little girl had no chance,” said the victim’s great step-aunt, Carrie Hogan. “She had a parent who was a monster who failed her in every way. It’s devastating. I wouldn’t even treat my dog that way.”

The victim’s family believes the DCS failed the little girl.

“We were planning on keeping her, but DCS has their policy of reunification and that’s horrible,” said Welty. “Reunification from the get-go is the problem in my eyes because no matter what the parent does their goal is reunification.”

A GoFundMe, which can be found here, was set up by Hogan to help the family with funeral expenses. Several vigils have also been held throughout Indy in Kinsleigh’s honor.

Last Wednesday, IMPD Chief Chris Bailey released the following statement on Kinsleigh’s death:

“My heart breaks knowing what Kinsleigh went through in her short life and how she left this world.

The circumstances of Kinsleigh’s death are horrific and beyond comprehension. No human being, let alone a child should be treated like she was. These alleged suspects, if convicted, should never step foot outside of a prison.

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 the innocent. What they see and hear every day most of us could not endure. They are truly special people. I pray Kinsleigh has found internal peace and for her siblings who will need a lot of love and care in the coming days, months, and years.”

“No child or human being should be treated the way she was,” said IMPD Officer Thomas Thompson.

Because April is National Child Abuse Awareness Month, IMPD reminds everyone to speak up anytime they suspect a child is being abused or neglected.

“The community has to step forward and reach out to us,” said Thompson. “Help us help these children have a voice.”

Prosecutor Ryan Mears released a statement on Monday after McClure and Smith were officially charged:

“Kinsleigh suffered an unimaginable fate at the hands of those who were supposed to raise and protect her. Today, we are on a path towards accountability for those who failed Kinsleigh thanks to the detectives and deputy prosecutors who have worked diligently together around the clock for the past several days.”

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. Given this, Prosecutor Mears said he believes Kinsleigh’s death proves that remaining silent in the midst of abuse can prove deadly.

“A case like this is 100 percent preventable,” Mears said. “What needed to happen was for someone to stand up for this child and give this child food.”