KDPS: 4-Year-Old Was Duct Taped With Face Covered At Time Of Death
We now know more about what lead up to the death of a four-year-old girl in Kalamazoo on Sunday.
WWMT reports that in Kalamazoo County Court Tuesday, 33-year-old Kelly Ballinger and 34-year-old Matthew Longnecker were both charged with murder and first-degree child abuse for the death of Ballinger’s child. Investigators say that over the past two weeks, the couple would swaddle the child in blankets and then wrap her in duct tape, restraining her to her bed overnight.
At times, the girl’s face was covered, and that was the case when police responded to the home on Mt. Olivet Rd. Sunday morning, where she was found not breathing. Crews attempted for almost an hour to resuscitate her, but they were unsuccessful.
Two other children in the home have been taken by Child Protective Services, and both Ballinger and Longnecker have been denied bond.