Grandmother charged with confinement in 5-year-old girl’s death

INDIANAPOLIS – A grandmother faces a confinement charge in connection with the horrific death of 5-year-old Kinsleigh Welty.

According to court records, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office filed the formal charge Wednesday against 53-year-old Tammy Halsey. She faces a count of confinement where the victim is under the age of 14. It’s a Level 5 felony carrying a potential sentence between 1 and 6 years in prison.

Halsey appeared in court for her initial hearing Thursday. Judge Mark Stoner advised Halsey of the charge against her and informed her of a no-contact order involving witnesses in the case. A pretrial conference was scheduled for June 18, with a tentative trial date set for June 24.

Two other people, 29-year-old Toni McClure and 27-year-old Ryan Smith, were also arrested in the case. McClure, the girl’s mother, is charged with murder, criminal confinement and battery. Smith is charged with neglect of a dependent and criminal confinement.

Kinsleigh died on April 9. Police were called that evening to the 6500 block of Denver Drive for an unresponsive child. They noticed the girl appeared malnourished and had fecal matter and lice on her head, hair and feet.

Kinsleigh was taken to Riley Hospital for Children; an autopsy found she likely died from severe malnutrition. She weighed less at 5 years old than when she was 2 years old, according to court documents.

The girl spent much of her time in a small closet; a dresser blocked the door to prevent her from getting out. McClure said she did the bare minimum to care for her daughter. Smith and Halsey, investigators said, were aware of the neglect.

Halsey, Kinsleigh’s grandmother, told police she knew something was wrong and admitted she should’ve done something to get Kinsleigh help. IMPD arrested her on April 12.

During an interview with investigators, Halsey said she didn’t report the abuse because she didn’t want McClure to lose her other children. She said McClure told her that Kinsleigh spent most of the day in the closet.

Halsey told police she “should receive whatever punishment because she did not do anything” to help her granddaughter.

Halsey said she’d watched Kinsleigh “a lot” during the summer of 2023. She used duct tape to prevent the girl from getting out of bed. She said she put duct tape over her legs and taped it to the bed covers. When that didn’t work, she put “more duct tape over the top of her shoulders, upper legs and lower legs,” according to court documents.

Those efforts proved unsuccessful, she said, and she eventually ripped up tape. One of Halsey’s coworkers said Halsey told her she’d tied Kinsleigh to a bed to prevent her from getting out at night to get something to eat, according to court documents.

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