SickeningFacebooktexts have emerged revealing years of alleged torture a five-year-old girl endured at the hands of her mother and grandmother before her death, according to newly-released court documents.
Kinsleigh Welty was found unresponsive when officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan PD arrived at a home on Denver Drive on April 9.
Officers observed the youngster was severely malnourished with bite marks, lice crawling on her face, and head, and feces in her hair and on feet.She was transported to Riley Hospital for Children, and died from severe malnutrition, officialsreported.
Themessage exchange between Kinsleigh's mother, Toni Renee McClure, 29, and grandmother, TammyHalsey, 53, details how the pair allegedly tormented the youngster over the years.
The alleged torture included frequent beatings, withholding food and drink, and using duct tape to prevent the little girl from escaping a locked closet she was kept in, part of the reason was to keep her hidden from the Department of Children Services, Law & Crime reported.
Kinsleigh Welty was found unresponsive when officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan PD arrived at her home April 9.Officers observed the youngster was severely malnourished with bite marks, lice crawling on her face, and head, and feces in her hair and on her feet
The mother and daughter duo would frequently talk about ways to punish the youngster including, locking the refrigerator and cabinets, so she had no access to food and beverages, the texts revealed.
Officials said the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl weighed less than she did when she was two years old.
In the texts, Kinsleigh would be referred to as 'Demon' 'Dummy' and 'Evil.'
In a May 2022 text, the grandmother was seen telling her daughter to 'put something in front so she can't push the door,' when the little girl escaped from the closet.
'I already tried that,' McLure said.
Halsey responded: 'You're going to have to keep her home one weekend just to show her you mean business.'
McLure responds: 'She hates being smacked on her belly just so you know.
The grandmother hits back: 'Oh I know.'
In a May 2023 text, the grandmother asked: 'Did you not wrap her a** up?'
McClure tells her mother that 'she did' but Kinsleigh 'got out.'
Her mother responded, 'Damn, do it tighter.'
In a July 2023 exchange, McLure asks her mother to watch Kinsleigh.
When her mother responds that she is 'too tired and has work the next day.'
McLure tells her: 'Do your duct tape thing. Sleep. I won't ask again.'
The horrific texts from two years ago, May 2022
Another thread of texts from May 2023 and July 2023 show the heinous abuse the mother and daughter did to Kinsleigh before her April 2024 death
On October 6, 2023, McClure said Kinsleigh had broken the door lock and shoved excrement under the couch. Halsey told her daughter to 'tie her f****** a** up'
On October 6, 2023, McClure said Kinsleigh had broken the door lock and shoved excrement under the couch.
Halsey told her daughter to 'tie her f****** a** up.'
McClure responded 'take one for the freaking team man,' with laughing emojis, skull and crossbones.
She continued: 'You do your method and it works. Can't do that here. I'll clean her up first.'
On January 2, 2024 Halsey asked McClure if she was watching the kids that day.
'It doesn't matter,' McClure wrote. 'As long as you promise [if one] of the b****** show up that you make them leave and tell them [the children aren't] there. That's the only thing I worry about,' Fox 59 reported.
On March 22, Halsey informed McClure that DCS had 'showed up again.'
'Oh Jesus Christ,' McClure responded. 'I guess we need to figure out a day where you can take Kinsleigh and I can deal with it, but I really just don't want to.'
On April, 9 of this year, McLure texted her mother that the Department of Children Services was coming to her home.
'I don't have much in my fridge or my cabinets but DCS is coming out today,' she wrote. 'Call me on your lunch.'
That was the same day officials discovered the youngster's lifeless body.
April 9, 2024 was the day Kinsleigh was pronounced deceased
In April, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office arrested Kinsleigh's mother, Toni McClure, and McClure's boyfriend, Ryan Smith, 27.
McClure was charged with murder, criminal confinement and neglect in little Kinsleigh's death.
Smith was charged with three counts of neglect of a dependent.
Halsey faces five counts of neglect and one count of failing to report child neglect and abuse,Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a news release on Thursday.
'These charges are a direct result of law enforcement's commitment to justice for Kinsleigh,' the Marion County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement WXIN reported.
'We will continue to pursue leads and information and file charges, if warranted, as the investigation continues.'
Halsey and Smith are due back in court on June 18.
Smith has since been released on bail. McClure and Halsey are still in pretrial detention, as per a report.
Mother: Toni McLure, 29
Grandmother: Tammy Halsey, 53
Boyfriend: Ryan Smith, 27
IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said, 'my heart breaks knowing what Kinsleigh went through in her short life and how she left this world.'
'The circ*mstances 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.'
Bailey further sated, '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,' he said, KTLA News reported.
