GUILTY OK - Kelsey Briggs, 2, beaten to death, Meeker, 11 Oct 2005

[aussiegran]

OKLAHOMA CITY -- NewsChannel 4 has received excruciating details of the last abusive months of Kelsey Briggs' life. Last month, the 2-and-half-year-old died from a traumatic blow to her stomach and the medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.

The only person arrested in the case is her step-father. He sits in jail charged with first degree murder and facing a one million dollar bond.

For the first time, NewsChannel 4 is getting a look at what the state did and did not do for the little girl when they were notified of the abuse. NewsChannel 4’s Cherokee Ballard has been pouring over the documents that the state was required to release and now some people are pointing a finger at DHS.

http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=4068806
.................................
I did a search on kelsey and didnt find her story on here. it happaned last year.this poor sweet little thing suffered terribly and no one protected her.

 

[less0305]

I'd say somebody really messed up to continue to return this child to an abusive home - and then for her to die TWO hours after DHS visited...there's just something wrong about that!

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=4068806

"The last time we saw her she wasn’t a normal little girl anymore. She had lost a lot of weight, her eyes looked glazed, she didn’t have the light in her eyes she had,” says her grandfather, Royce Briggs. She was sad. She was a sad little girl and before that, she never had any reason to be sad. It was like she wasn't even in there.”

I can't even find the words for how I feel about this. I hadn't heard about her before today and now my heart breaks for her.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Kelsey's Purpose

A site created for Kelsey by her paternal grandparent.

"My granddaughter Kelsey was born after her parents were divorced. I wondered why this child would be put on this earth after the two people who were not meant to be together had already gone their separate ways. I knew she had a purpose, but what could it be?

When my son was called to active duty and sent to Iraq I was sure that I knew. God was giving Kelsey to us because her father was not coming home.

I was wrong. Kelsey was the one who did not make it. She died just days before her dad was to return. After nine months of abuse, she joined the other little angels in Heaven. It was then that I knew her purpose...


She was put here to make a difference - to make sure other children are protected."

oudaily.com - Group gathers to raise child abuse awareness

... The Kelsey’s Purpose Program, founded by grandmother Kathie Briggs, is in memory of the 2-year-old Meeker Oklahoma toddler, Kelsey Briggs, who died as a direct result of child abuse on Oct. 11, 2005.

The program currently has over 950 registered members in Oklahoma, the United States and countries around the world, according to a press release.

Members provide support and encouragement to families by organizing different events and rallies...

Kelsey’s stepfather, Michael Lee Porter, was charged with first-degree murder, and her mother, Raye Dawn Porter, has been charged with enabling child abuse and child neglect, according to Lincoln County District court records...

 

[SewingDeb]

I saw the comment from DHS (from the link in the first post) and it makes me sick.

“The question is ‘who messed up?’ The person who messed up did all these things. That is the person who messed up, period.” says DHS, official George Johnson

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it appears that DHS is not accepting any of the blame in letting this child return to a clearly abusive home.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

April 29, 2006 -

.:KTFO UPN41 ONLINE:..:NEWS:.

Governor Brad Henry proclaimed today Kelsey Briggs Day in Oklahoma...

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I saw the comment from DHS (from the link in the first post) and it makes me sick.

“The question is ‘who messed up?’ The person who messed up did all these things. That is the person who messed up, period.” says DHS, official George Johnson

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it appears that DHS is not accepting any of the blame in letting this child return to a clearly abusive home.

I felt exactly the same way. Yes, the person directly responsible for this baby's murder is the murderer but give me a break. All the signs were there. A child has two broken legs, the parent has to be TOLD to take her to the hospital, yet this child is returned to the home??? Bruises on her face, broken collar bone, etc., etc., all before the age of 3, and no one's alarms at DHS were ringing???? I'm just sickened. This child truly suffered in her tragically short life. I would have adored that beautiful little girl. I wish she had been mine.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

The continuing case of Kelsey Briggs

There are serious questions about a child advocacy worker who was supposed to be protecting a little girl who was later beaten to death. The worker visited Kelsey Briggs and her mother on the very day the two-and-a-half-year-old died. The worker reported that everything was just fine.

New questions have risen about the worker's treatment of her own child. NewsChannel 4's sources have said that the very worker who was supposed to be protecting Kelsey Briggs was once accused of abusing her own child in 1997. She faced charges of assault and battery. This reveals another stunning twist in this tragic case...

The documents include an arrest warrant of assault and battery. She was accused of assaulting her own daughter. The warrant says that Ms. Bonner grabbed a fly swatter and struck her daughter on the buttocks and then grabbed her by the hair and began to pull her toward the front door.

Bonner admits using a fly swatter and grabbing her daughter's hair. The case was eventually dismissed.

Bonner hired local attorney Craig Key to represent her. Key eventually became the judge assigned to the Kelsey Briggs case. He was the very judge who ordered Kelsey be sent back to her home...

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Lots of links to news clips, etc. Very nice site.

JusticeForKelseyBriggs.org

... Michael Porter, the stepfather, was arrested Thursday morning on October 20, 2005 for the death of his two-year-old stepdaughter, Kelsey. The bond has been set for $1 million after he pleads not guilty in court on October 21, 2005, Friday morning to charges that he killed the toddler, Kelsey Briggs. The judge in the case has issued a gag order for everyone in the case. However, later on Michael Porter bond was reduced from one million dollar to 250,000 bond and was able to bond out of jail, his next court date is in April 21st of 2006. The Stepfather stands accused of striking the little girl in the abdomen earlier in the week causing blunt force trauma and inflicting deadly wounds....

The little girl was described as having significant bleeding in her intestines and bruising on her ribs, the front of her chest, side and back...

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Heart-breaking video interview with Kelsey's paternal grandparents. It seems that they did everything humanly possible to save their granddaughter.

Video includes pictures of beautiful Kelsey. Some are hard to look at. In one, there is a clear bruise on her cheek and two others are close-ups taken, I believe, post-mortem.

NewsOK.com | Powered by The Oklahoman and NEWS 9

 

[lisag]

Poor little girl... I am sick to my stomach

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

The one news report states that Kelsey was asleep when her mother left her alone with the step-father so that she could go pick up HIS daughter from school and also states that she died mere hours before her dad returned from Iraq.

This is too much.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

News video

NewsOK.com | Powered by The Oklahoman and NEWS 9

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

NewsOK.com | Powered by The Oklahoman and NEWS 9

News video - reaction from Kelsey's mother's family. They seem like a completely normal family and are obviously devastated by Kelsey's death. There is a pic with Kelsey and her mom and she appears to be an attractive woman that takes good care of herself.

Includes the information that the murderer has filed for divorce from Kelsey's mother and that Kelsey's mother is (was at that time?) pregnant with the murderer's baby.

There is also video footage of Kelsey. She is wearing her leg casts in parts of the video, and you can hear her sweet voice in other parts.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Article from April 6, 2006:

Mother of slain toddler gives birth

... Raye Dawn Smith gave birth to a son named Blaine at an Oklahoma City hospital and the child will be placed in state custody...

State Department of Human Services attorney Steve Huddleston says the issue of visitation is still being worked out.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Article from May 3, 2006:

Result of second autopsy on Meeker girl to come out in court

A prosecutor says the results of a second autopsy on a 2-year-old Meeker girl who died last October will come out in court.The body of Kelsey Smith-Briggs was exhumed last week for the second autopsy at the request of District Attorney Richard Smothermon.

Smothermon says the autopsy was performed by Indiana University medical school professor Dean Hawley after Smothermon met with the girl's father, Lance Briggs, and mother Raye Dawn Smith...

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Sorry about all of the posts but since there's not much on this thread, and I can't shake how horrible I feel for this poor child, I figured I'd share what I've gotten from Google.

Article from May 4, 2006:

"Weak case" alleged by attorney for man in girl's death

The attorney for a man charged with the murder of his 2-year-old stepdaughter says a second autopsy was ordered on the girl's body in an effort to strengthen what he calls the prosecution's "weak case."

Paul Sutton represents Michael Porter on murder charges in the death of Kelsey Smith-Briggs of Meeker...

Kelsey's body was exhumed and a second autopsy performed last week at the request of District Attorney Richard Smothermon.

Sutton says Smothermon is looking for evidence the girl was sexually assaulted and is trying to pin down the time she was attacked. (I wonder how he can make this statement since everyone involved in the case has been placed under a gag order.)

Porter remains free on 250-thousand dollars bond and is due in court for a preliminary hearing May 26th.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

You post as many as you want JerseyGirl!!! Little Kelsey deserves all the attention she can get.

 

[Masissy]

You post as many as you want JerseyGirl!!! Little Kelsey deserves all the attention she can get.

I agree JerseyGirl. This beautiful child deserved so much more out of life. The Mom I mean b*&*%$ should be locked up as well. Poor baby covered in bruises, broken bones, lost weight, oh it hurts me so bad.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

The Mom I mean b*&*%$ should be locked up as well.

Thankfully, she's being charged as well:

Kelsey's mother, Raye Dawn Smith, is charged with felony child neglect and enabling child abuse. (Let's hope that she gets some of the hell that that child lived.)

"Weak case" alleged by attorney for man in girl's death