Left: Kinsleigh Welty (GoFundMe); Right: Toni McClure (Marion County Jail)
Shocking new details have emerged in a child abuse case where three Indiana adults are facing a litany of criminal charges, some new, over the death of a 5-year-old girl whose final hours were spent cowering in a corner and whose short life was defined by abuse and squalor.
Kinsleigh Welty, 5, died the day after the Great North American Eclipse, which she did not get to witness because she was allegedly forced to stare at a wall, shamed for purportedly misbehaving while the adults in her life watched the light drain from the sky in early April.
In newly-released court documents, authorities allege the abuse that eventually took her life went on for years and years before that.
On April 9, just after 5:15 p.m., officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrived at a residence on Denver Drive in response to a report about an unresponsive child.
The tiny girl “immediately appeared to arriving officers to be malnourished,” according to a police press release. She was covered in bite marks, had feces in her hair and on her feet, and had lice crawling on her face and head. Rushed to Riley Hospital for Children, Kinsleigh was soon pronounced dead from malnutrition.
Kinsleigh’s mother, Toni Renee McClure, 29, stands accused of two counts of murder, and one count each of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, battery on a person less than 14 years old, and criminal confinement, according to Marion County jail records. McClure’s boyfriend, Ryan Smith, 27, stands accused of three counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and one count of criminal confinement. Kinsleigh’s grandmother, Tammy Halsey, 53, was initially charged with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death.
Left: Ryan Smith; Right: Tammy Halsey (Marion County Jail)
Now, the girl’s grandmother stands accused of one count each of criminal confinement, failure to make a report, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, neglect of a dependent resulting in injury, neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, neglect of a dependent, and three counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.
“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 obtained by Indianapolis-based Fox affiliate WXIN. “We will continue to pursue leads and information and file charges, if warranted, as the investigation continues.”
At the time of her death, Kinsleigh weighed considerably less than she did when she was 2 years old, police allege. Her mother and grandmother discussed locking the refrigerator and cabinets to prevent the girl from accessing food and discussed how she attempted to “eat and drink items without permission,” according to court documents obtained by the TV station.
A long-running, telltale Facebook Messenger thread between McClure and Halsey documents how the adults in charge of Kinsleigh’s world allowed the girl to experience it, according to police.
Common pejoratives allegedly used by the adults to describe the girl include: “Evil, Demon, Dip—-, Dummy, Chunkers and Heiffer.”
In one back-and-forth, from May 2022, McClure allegedly alerted Halsey that Kinsleigh had escaped from the closet.
“Put something in front so she can’t push the door,” Halsey allegedly replied.
McClure allegedly said she had already tried that.
Halsey allegedly wrote back: “You’re going to have to keep her home one weekend just to show her you mean business.”
“She hates being smacked on her belly just so you know,” McClure allegedly responded.
To which McClure allegedly replied: “Oh, I know.”
Another alleged exchange, from May 2023, began with an image: the girl can be seen crouching near a couch.
“Did you not wrap her a– up?” Halsey allegedly wrote.
“Yes, I did,” McClure allegedly replied. “She got out.”
Halsey allegedly offered the following advice: “Damn do it tighter.”
In July 2023, McClure allegedly asked Halsey to watch the girl; the grandmother said she was too tired and had work the next day.
McClure allegedly replied: “Do your duct tape thing. Sleep. I won’t ask again.”
In September 2023, Kinsleigh had “damn near” escaped from her closet again, her mother allegedly complained.
The girl’s grandmother allegedly replied: “Tape her a– down.”
In October 2023, McClure allegedly told Halsey that Kinslegh broke the lock on her door and put excrement under the couch. The grandmother allegedly advised her own daughter to “tie her f—— a– up.”
Also in October 2023, McClure asks her mother to watch the girl by allegedly saying “take one for the freaking team man” and goes on to intersperse laughing emoji and a skull and crossbones emoji with the following message: “You do your method and it works. Can’t do that here. I’ll clean her up first.”
The concern about location-based abuse allegedly voiced in those messages appears to be due to Child Protective Services. A series of additional messages beginning January of this year explicitly identify the pair’s efforts to keep the children away from welfare agents.
One final such message was sent on April 9, just before Kinsleigh died.
McClure allegedly wrote to Halsey: “So I don’t have much in my fridge or my cabinets but DCS is coming out today. Call me on your lunch.”
The girl’s grandmother is due back in court on Monday. The girl’s mother and Smith are both due back in court on June 18. Smith has since been released on bail. McClure and Halsey are still in pretrial detention.
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