INDIANA COUNTY (KDKA) — Pennsylvania State Police have confirmed that they are investigating a Snapchat video showing two teenagers allegedly giving a 2-year-old child a vaping device.

The incident happened in Indiana County.

The Troop A, Indiana Criminal Investigation Unit is aware of a video and is investigating the related incident in which a 2-year-old child was given a vaping device. The involved persons and child have been identified and charges are pending.@WTAE @KDKA @WPXI @WJACTV @WTAJnews

— Troopers Steve Limani & Cliff Greenfield (@PSPTroopAPIO) January 12, 2020

The video clip appears to show the vaping pen being given to the toddler, who then puts in in his or her mouth.

The child then coughs, appears to fall down and begins to cry. People can be heard laughing in the background.

KDKA’s Lindsay Ward Reports:

The people involved have been identified by state troopers and the Indiana Criminal Investigation Unit.

Charges are pending against the individuals. More information about the case will be released Monday, according to state police.

Additional information will be released tomorrow.

— Troopers Steve Limani & Cliff Greenfield (@PSPTroopAPIO) January 12, 2020

The United School District of Armagh, Pennsylvania, confirmed that they believe two of their students were involved:

“United administration was made aware of the video today, and the matter is being investigated by the authorities. We believe that two of our students were involved in the situation. The names of those students were provided to the authorities,” Superintendent Dr. Barbara Parkins said in a statement.

Stay with KDKA as we follow this story.

CARRICK (KDKA) — A Carrick couple facing 50 charges in connection to a child abuse case has been arrested.

On Thursday, officials arrested Seth Price, 36, and Trista Price, 36.

The alleged abuse happened at a home in Carrick. Police say it involved two children, who at the time were between the ages of 4 and 7.

It was years ago, according to police, when the abuse happened. The victims, a brother and sister, are now teenagers.

They say it was last year when a report from Children, Youth and Families prompted the investigation.

Through their interviews with the teens, police say they determined the alleged abuse lasted for years.

(Photo Credit: Trista Price/Facebook)

According to the criminal complaint, both teens accuse Seth Price of choking them and hitting them with multiple objects, such as a frying pan and a 2X4 piece of wood.

In the paperwork, the female victim describes the heinous abuse in detail, saying, “On one occasion, [the man] struck her with his Jeep and left a permanent scar on her forehead.”

The teen boy told police Trista Price allegedly recorded the acts on a cellphone and would watch as the incidents were taking place.”

Much of abuse is simply too graphic to share.

The couple is facing charges of rape of a child, sexual abuse of children, endangering the welfare of children and sexual exploitation of children, among others.

(CNN) — It started as a fun pajama party for 10 sixth grade girls who make up Girl Scouts Troop 1980. It quickly evolved into something with much greater purpose and reach: A new book to help child abuse victims in their healing process.

The girls in the metro Atlanta troop were tasked with brainstorming a new community project. They came up with the idea of a quote book to help kids who may be going through difficult situations.

That was over the summer. After months of hard work, their book, Sparks from Fireflies, is just doing that.

“It’s exciting because it not only started from them, but it came from their heart,” Lisa McAbee, one of the troop’s leaders, told CNN. “It was just incredible to be a part of it and say ‘what if’ and see them take those ‘what ifs’ and extrapolate it forward into something beautiful.”

The book is made up of illustrated quotes, all of which were selected and drawn by the girls. The quotes are meant to be sparks — “a night light for the darkest nights,” as the book cover explains.

Photo Courtesy: Lisa McAbee/A sample of an illustrated quote created by the Girl Scouts in Troop 1980 for their book “Sparks from Fireflies.”

The book also includes coloring pages and writing prompts that are designed to be therapeutic.

Initially, the troop created it for the children at the SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center. The center, in Georgia’s Cobb County, offers services for children who are victims of trauma.

The books will allow children to “read an inspirational message each day that will help them move past their abuse, past victimization, and thrive,” Jinger Robins, executive director of the center, told CNN affiliate WSB.

Troop 1980 wants to print 1,000 copies of the book so that every child at the center receives one, but cookie sales won’t cover it all. The girls have set up a GoFundMe to help reach their goal.

With final publishing expected in February, McAbee says their next step is to have the book available for purchase on Amazon so more children can be inspired and healed.

“We want it to have an impact on other communities and places where kids are at risk and need a little bit of hope,” says McAbee. “And this hope can be given by another kid in the form of a book.”

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WESTMORELAND COUNTY (KDKA) — A Westmoreland County mother is facing charges for allegedly abusing her 3-month-old son, who was found with tearing injuries to the flesh around and inside his mouth and ruptured blood vessels in his eyes.

Destiny Pratt, 24, is accused of severely abusing her son, who was also underweight and had bruises on his face, head and midsection.

Pratt lived on an apartment along Divison Street.

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

“I cried when I found out what happened to that little boy,” neighbor Jeannie Roddy said.

Doctors discovered the child was underweight after it was brought to Excella Westmoreland Hospital before being rushed to UPMC Children’s Hospital.

“Our department received a child line call from Children’s Hospital in reference to a 3-month-old boy,” Greensburg Police Captain Robert Stafford said.

Police say the mother offered no excuse for what happened to her little boy.

“It was kind of disturbing once you started looking into the kind of injuries the child had,” Stafford said.

Pratt was arrested for aggravated child abuse and other child neglect charges.

She is in the Westmoreland County Jail.

“A monster, I’m just crying thinking of it,” Roddy said.

The child is in foster care.

WESTMORELAND COUNTY (KDKA) — Police say a Westmoreland County woman was living in such filth that her son couldn’t get in the front door after school.

Prompted by a tip, the police visited Marie Kinnaird’s apartment on Helman Street in Youngwood.

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

“He was unable to get into his residence and subsequently was able to get back on the bus and was taken back to school,” trooper Stephen Limani said of the boy.

The school let the state police know what was going on.

“We went back to the residence and forced our way in and were able to make contact with the mother of this child, who was visibly intoxicated,” Limani. “The house was absolutely deplorable.”

Investigators say the place had rotting food and human waste on the floor.

There was also no bedding or consumable food.

“There were several bottles of liquor, several consumed empty bottles,” Limani said.

Kinnard, who is deaf and suffering from late-stage liver disease, got a visit from troopers last month after she was found stumbling around outside.

“She was unable to stand,” Limani said. “She was incoherent.”

The young boy is now in foster care.

The troopers credit the bus driver for staying around when the boy couldn’t get into his apartment and the kind neighborhoods who’ve been there for him.

“For the most part, the child’s been fending for himself,” Limani said.

Kinnaird is facing public drunkenness and endangering the welfare of a child charges.

WESTMORELAND COUNTY (KDKA) — A Westmoreland County woman is charged with endangering the welfare of children, and this is not the first time she has faced charges like this.

Elizabeth Ann Hart was already out on bond for her alleged involvement in a child abuse incident last fall.

She is now accused of child endangerment after troopers found two children living in a filthy home that was crawling with bugs.

“The place should be condemned. It’s really filthy,” said neighbor CY Kolar.

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

As bad as the outside is, according to state police, the inside is worse.

Troopers showed up at the home for a domestic dispute call.

Inside, they found two kids, ages 5 years old and 7 months old, in filth and squalor.

Multiple cockroaches were crawling on the walls, garbage and clothing were piled in the home and a child was in a car seat surrounded by it all.

Hart, 22, has been charged with multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Hart was arrested in September 2019, along with 19-year-old Taylor Shipley, after her 3-month-old child was admitted to Children’s Hospital after suffering broken bones, bleeding on the brain and other injuries.

“The doctor is adamant there’s only one way these injuries could have happened and that was shaken baby syndrome,” trooper Stephen Limani said in September.

Hart was free on a $25,000 unsecured bond and was not supposed to have contact with the injured child.

However, the infant was discovered in the house during officials’ most recent visit.

Hart is now in the Westmoreland County Jail on unrelated charges.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A mid-level appeals court decision issued last summer that allowed some victims of childhood sexual abuse a way to pursue lawsuits despite time limits will be reviewed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the justices announced Monday.

The high court granted a request to hear the case that was made by the defendants, three priests and the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese.

The Superior Court ruled in June that Renee Rice could pursue claims that church officials’ silence about a priest who she says molested her amounted to fraudulent concealment.

The Rice case has since been cited by other litigants to support their own claims, Rice’s lawyer, Richard Serbin, said Monday.

“Of course I’m disappointed that they’re taking the appeal. But I understand the reason why,” Serbin said in a phone interview. “Because issues were decided which there’s not much case law on. And therefore, while I think the Superior Court decision is sound and will be upheld, the Supreme Court may very well want to put its stamp on it. Because we’re talking about a lot of cases.”

Eric Anderson, who represents the diocese and the estates of the late Bishop Joseph Adamec and the late Bishop James Hogan, said he was pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the matter.

“We think that the law is different than the way the Superior Court interpreted it,” Anderson said.

A diocesan spokesman declined to comment, and a phone message was left for Thomas Foor, a lawyer for the Rev. Charles F. Bodziak, the priest that Rice has accused of molesting her.

The justices agreed to consider whether the Superior Court decision improperly did away with the statute of limitations and a discovery rule for civil actions, and whether the lower court also mistakenly let plaintiffs sue for civil conspiracy as a secondary reason for a lawsuit when too much time has elapsed to pursue the primary reason.

The other grounds for taking the case, the Supreme Court order said, was whether the lower court wrongly established that “a fiduciary” — in this case, the church and church officials — owed “a never-ending duty to speak after the end of the relationship, thereby eliminating a plaintiff’s duty to exercise due diligence and conduct a reasonable investigation.”

The Pennsylvania Legislature in November passed a number of changes related to future abuse — giving prosecutors more time to pursue cases and victims more time to sue.

As for abuse that occurred too long ago for lawsuits, Republicans in the state Senate blocked legislation to set up a two-year “window” for otherwise time-barred lawsuits, instead starting the lengthy process of amending the state constitution to allow the lawsuit window.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they want to be identified, and Serbin said Rice does.

Rice alleges Bodziak, identified as the subject of allegation in a 2016 grand jury report into sexual abuse of children by priests in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, abused her while a parish priest at St. Leo’s Church in Altoona some 40 years ago. Bodziak has denied that. The lawsuit was dismissed by a county judge in 2017 because of the statute of limitations.

Rice’s lawsuit claims the bishops and diocese knew or should have known Bodziak molested girls when they assigned him to St. Leo’s. The priest asked her parents whether Rice could clean his home, where he molested her between ages 9 and 14, ending in 1981, according to her lawsuit. She also alleges abuse took place in the choir loft, Bodziak’s car and a cemetery.

(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)

WESTMORELAND COUNTY (KDKA) — Investigators say a woman made her 9-year-old daughter steal from local stores and beat her if she refused.

But the suspect’s boyfriend says the accusations are lies cooked up by the suspect’s ex-husband.

Wara Wara Kanban Cha is charged with serious and disturbing accusations of child abuse.

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

“He became suspicious of his daughter being abused,” Greensburg Police Captain Robert Stafford said. “He started keeping track of the injuries and taking pictures.”

The victim told her father and police that her mother’s abuse was regular, with a few of the incidents occurring at Walmart and Targets in the Greensburg area.

The 40-year-old is accused of telling her child to steal items and hid them.

Officials say she was beaten if she refused.

“She did make the statement that she was always hungry, and she asked her mother for dinner. She got mad, struck her and said she wasn’t eating,” Robert Stafford said.

“Every bit of it is fabricated,” said Barry Brown, the suspect’s boyfriend. “None of it’s true.”

Brown said his girlfriend would never hit her child and the accusations are bogus.

“She’s afraid of her dad. So she’ll do anything her dad tells her to say,” Brown said.

The mother is charged with multiple counts, including simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

This young girl is with her father.

WESTMORELAND COUNTY (KDKA) — A local mother is accused of abusing her child so badly the toddler ended up with swelling of the brain, broken bones and bruises.

Doctors say they even found drugs in the child’s system.

Police say the suspect in this case blamed her child’s near fatal injuries on the family dog. Crystal Nicole Steel is in the Westmoreland County Jail tonight after what she allegedly did to her nearly 2-year-old child inside a Diary Borough residence.

“The child is lucky to be alive. This was a near fatality,” State Trooper Steve Limani said.

When Steel brought the child to Latrobe Hospital, doctors there were shocked. They immediately sent the little boy to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh where doctors there told investigators the child had swelling on the brain as well as broken bones and bruises.

Steel, 28, blamed the injuries on the dog. State Trooper Limani summarized the statement Steel gave to officials:

“He had fallen off on a ramp outside her apartment complex while playing with the dog and that the dog while this child would like to wrestle with dog must have caused these injuries.”

The broken bones and bruises were not the only things that shocked doctors and investigators alike.

“The child was actually under the influence and had cocaine in its system,” Limani said.

State police believe that was caused by Steel, who allegedly used crack cocaine in front of the child. Drugs, apparently, were readily available inside Steel’s residence.

“Cocaine, heroin, and then there were a bunch of unidentified pills that were also at the house,” Limani said.

Crystal Steel is in Westmoreland County Jail, held on a $270,000 bond. Her child is recovering, meanwhile, with his grandmother.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Pittsburgh Police arrested Dominique Fancher after it was discovered a child she lives with had bruises on her legs, face, and arms.

According to the criminal complaint, on February 11, the child’s school noticed that she had bruising on her left and right arms, the right side of her face, and on her thighs.

She told school officials that “Cici,” who police later identified as Fancher, would strike her with a belt as discipline for misbehaving at school.

The child told CYF officials that Fancher watches her while her mother is at work and that Fancher would regularly discipline her with a belt on her face, back, behind, and legs. She also said that the abuse had occurred within the past year.

A day prior to school officials noticing her injuries, the child stated that Fancher had struck her with a belt for not listening to her teachers. She said she had been hit in her arms, face, back, behind, and legs all while being yelled at.

Doctors at UPMC Children’s Hospital examined her for concerns of physical abuse and found that the injuries were not accidental or routine childhood activities that would have caused the injuries.

When interviewed by police, Fancher admitted to being the disciplinarian in the household and using her hands as a means of discipline but denied ever using a belt.

Fancher is facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child.

UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) – A Westmoreland County father who is already accused of locking his 9-year-old boy in a closet is now facing charges for allegedly hitting his son with a piece of wood.

According to the criminal complaint, Shawn and Tammy Jo Waulk went to a birthday party and left their 9-year-old son alone at their Unity Township home.

They allegedly put him in a closet and used a drill to screw in wood slats across the door so he could not escape. Investigators say the boy was in there for an hour and a half.

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

Police say the boy told them that he had been barricaded and trapped in a closet on three occasions. He told investigators he escaped one time and got into trouble.

The couple said they started using the closet as a time-out space and had recently secured the door to keep their son from escaping.

Investigators say Shawn Waulk admitted his son would not be able to escape the room if there was an emergency while they were away from their home.

The couple is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, false imprisonment and recklessly endangering the welfare of another person.

Now, as the investigation continues, Shawn is facing more charges.

According to new court paperwork, the boy told a worker at the Mercy Hospital Child Advocacy Center that his father had recently assaulted him, leaving significant bruising.

The boy said Shawn allegedly hit him with a piece of wood across his legs and backside. The criminal complaint says the boy was told to say he fell down the steps if anyone asked.

Police requested a summons be issued for Shawn on assault charges.

Trooper Steve Limani says the latest criminal charges are “uncalled for, ridiculous and against the law, and unfortunately, Mr. Waulk is going to find out the hard way.”

KDKA’s Ross Guidotti stopped by the Waulk’s Manor Avenue home. Neighbors said off-camera that the couple was evicted and just moved out yesterday.

The boy is now in the custody of relatives. The Waulks are free on $25,000 bond.

ARMSTRONG COUNTY (KDKA) — Police say a man in Armstrong County committed child abuse and an elementary school worker failed to report the incident.

Kiski Township police arrested Brian Murphy and Christine Fedder.

Murray is accused of assaulting two boys and threatening a girl when she reported it.

Police say Fedder witnessed the abuse and failed to report it.

She is employed at Apollo-Ridge Elementary School.

The district superintendent says he is aware of the charges and is taking appropriate action.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — Three West Virginia residents were charged with murder in the death of a 5-year-old boy, police said.

Troopers were called to investigate on Wednesday when the boy was taken to a hospital in Morgantown, authorities said. The child was suffering from head trauma, numerous bruises and a laceration on his genital region, news outlets reported, citing a criminal complaint. He died Friday, the complaint said.

Peter Wodzinski, 32, and Chasity Wodzinski, 29, and Michelle Boggs, 48, were jailed Friday and charged in Harrison County with murder of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian.

Authorities did not immediately release additional details, including whether any of the suspects were related to the child.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether they had attorneys who could comment on the charges.

(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)

NEW KENSINGTON (KDKA) — A man is facing charges in Westmoreland County, accused of beating his girlfriend’s son so violently that the child is now on life support.

Keith Lilly, Jr., is facing charges of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.

(Source: City of New Kensington Police Department)

He was arrested earlier this month in connection with an incident that happened on March 26 at a home on Fifth Avenue in New Kensington.

The 2-year-old child was found unresponsive and rushed to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh where he remains in the pediatric ICU.

Neighbor Shannell Felton says she knows the little boy well.

“He’s loving, shows a lot of care, just a kid, just a 2-year-old little boy,” said Shannell Felton, a neighbor.

Investigators say Lilly attacked the child, leaving him with a fractured skull, a brain bleed, significant bruising, bodily injuries to the eyes and mouth, other fractures in the process of healing and indications of past sexual abuse.

“That’s sick,” Felton said. “That’s really sick.”

Felton says she and others in the apartment building noticed injuries to the child and even contacted Westmoreland County Children and Youth Services, but claims no one came to investigate.

“The bruises and blacks eyes, like, we’ve seen and all that that’s not acceptable,” she said.

The victim’s mother declined comment. Meanwhile, Felton’s thoughts are with a little boy who investigators say is not likely to survive.

“I, like, tear up literally all day. That’s all I think about,” she said.

Citing privacy reasons, Westmoreland County Children and Youth Services are not commenting on the case.

KDKA’s Ross Guidotti spoke with Lilly’s mother who said she denies her son’s involvement in the incident.

Lilly remains in the Westmoreland County Jail on $250,000 bond.

Westmoreland County detectives and New Kensington Police continue to investigate.

New Kensington Police say they have not ruled out more charges and more arrests.

Lilly is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 7.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A 46-year-old woman from Armstrong County was arrested for allegedly burning a 1-year-old baby girl with a cigarette.

The Kiski Township Police Department says Lisa Marie Culp was arrested after they received a report about alleged child abuse last week.

Investigators determined that while Culp was under the influence of a controlled substance, she burned a 1-year-old girl with a lit cigarette.

The baby was taken to the hospital with first and second degree burns to her arm, police say.

Cupl was charged with felony aggravated assault, felony endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault. She’s in the Armstrong County Jail awaiting her preliminary hearing.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) – State police are looking for 37-year-old Jeremy Showman for allegedly beating his children.

The incidents allegedly took place in a Franklin Township, Fayette County home that Showman once lived in until it was recently destroyed by a suspicious fire.

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

According to investigators, the alleged beatings took place over two years. The victims were Showman’s own kids, ages 4 and 7 years old.

Trooper Robert Broadwater says Showman used “metal baseball bats, metal sticks, wooden boards and belts” in the assaults, allegedly beating the children so badly it was hard for them to walk.

“There was significant bruising on the children, significant signs of injury … identifiable as they were beaten, not struck, not hit, not disciplined but beaten,” Broadwater said.

This home has seen tragedy in the past.

Showman’s one child apparently died inside the house. It was determined the child died of sudden infant death syndrome.

The conditions at the time were nothing short of shocking.

And as for Showman’s engagement with local law enforcement, suffice to say he’s well-known.

“Within a two-year time period, we’ve dealt with him well over 18 times,” Broadwater said.

Showman has a significant criminal history, and investigators tell KDKA the Vanderbilt man has a PFA filed against him.

He now faces a number of charges, including felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and multiple simple assault charges.

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) – A man is facing homicide and sexual abuse charges in the death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old baby boy.

Police say a 2-year-old was found unresponsive on March 26 inside a home on Fifth Avenue in New Kensington. He was taken to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he was on life support until his death.

Investigators say Keith Lilly Jr. attacked the child, leaving him with a fractured skull, a brain bleed, significant bruising, bodily injuries to the eyes and mouth, other fractures in the process of healing and indications of past sexual abuse.

(Source: City of New Kensington Police Department)

Police say an autopsy revealed the baby’s cause of the death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Police arrested Lilly in April. He was facing charges of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children, but now New Kensington Police announced he’s facing new charges, including homicide and deviate sexual intercourse with a child with serious bodily harm.

Lilly is being held without bond.

Police say they are still investigating and the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau is also conducting a parallel investigation.

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) — A local councilman is working to create a permanent memorial to remember a young boy who died after allegedly being beaten by his mother’s boyfriend.

Since April, the playground at JFK Park in New Kensington has been lined with piles of teddy bears, pinwheels and blue flowers to remember 3-year-old Mikel Fetterman, who died after injuries allegedly sustained from abuse by his mother’s boyfriend, Keith Lilly Jr.

(Photo Credit: Provided)

Mindy Wilson runs the Facebook group called “Justice For Mikel.”

She helped start the memorial and said when she went to visit on Friday, “I pulled over in here and everything was gone.”

Councilman Dante Cicconi told KDKA the City of New Kensington removed the memorial at the request of a close family member who felt haunted by it.

KDKA spoke to the family member, who confirmed she is the one who asked to have it taken down.

This decision did not sit right with Susan Townsend, Mikel’s paternal grandmother, who said she used to visit the memorial every night and is heartsick that it’s gone.

(Photo Credit: Provided)

Townsend said she never had the chance to meet her grandson and that she only knew he existed after a detective called her the day Fetterman went on life support. The memorial is where she got to know him.

“The memorial was the only connection I had with my grandson,” said Townsend.

Councilman Cicconi told KDKA he is now working with both sides of the family to create a permanent memorial for Fetterman.

“We look to do a butterfly garden, a place where people can garden and heal,” said Cicconi.

The councilman said the city will donate manpower, and he is offering free design services to the family so they can come up with the perfect memorial.

RELATED STORIES:

• Teresa Fetterman Facing Charges In Death Of Son
• Westmoreland Co. Man Now Facing Homicide, Sexual Abuse Charges In Death Of 2-Year-Old Boy
• Community Members Gather To Remember Mikel Fetterman, Demand Justice
• 2-Year-Old Boy Allegedly Beaten By His Mother’s Boyfriend Dies
• ‘Just A 2-Year-Old Little Boy’: Man Accused Of Brutally Beating Girlfriend’s Son Who Is Now On Life Support

“It hits me to the core and anything I can do to help, I’m willing,” said Cicconi.

Family members said they hope to have this finished by next spring.

OAKMONT, Pa. (KDKA) – Three adults are facing multiple charges — including homicide and aggravated indecent assault of a child — in the death of a 3-year-old girl who police say was found “badly bruised and malnourished.”

Earlier this month, Allegheny County 911 was notified of an unresponsive child in the 500 block of 10th Street in Oakmont.

(Photo Credit: Tim Lawson/KDKA)

First responders found Bella Rae Seachrist not breathing and used life-saving measures, according to police. They say she appeared “badly bruised and malnourished.”

She was found in a bathtub on the second floor, according to the criminal complaint.

(Photo Credit: Provided)

Seachrist was taken to Children’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Detectives determined the child suffered from prolonged physical and mental abuse.

“I have no words for it, to be honest. There’s no words for it, my heart just breaks for that entire family,” said family friend Angelina McDade

Friends and extended family members of Seachrist met in a park on Wednesday. They say Bella used to come and play at the park.

On Wednesday, police announced the child’s father, 29-year-old Jose Eduardo Salazar-Ortiz Sr.; the child’s step-mother, 27-year-old Laura Michelle Ramriez; and Ramriez’s sister, 20-year-old Alexis Herrera, are responsible for the child’s death.

Photo Credit: Allegheny County

They are facing multiple charges, including criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy and aggravated indecent assault of a child. Herrera and Ramriez also face unlawful restraint and false imprisonment charges.

The father and stepmother are behind bars, while a warrant is out for Alexis Herrera’s arrest. She’s described as a Hispanic female who stands at 5-foot-6 and weighs 220 pounds.

A friend of the baby’s mother says Seachrist was being raised by her father when her mom was going through tough times.

“She thought she couldn’t provide the life that Bella deserved so she gave Jose the baby,” said Arika Simmers. “And Jose was supposed to take care of her and he didn’t.”

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call county police at 1-833-ALL-TIPS.

OAKMONT, Pa. (KDKA) – There are more details about what happened to a little girl who died after alleged abuse inside of her Oakmont home.

Tonight, three people are in custody, facing multiple charges in connection with her death.

Alexis Herrera just turned herself into police Thursday. The child’s father, Jose Salazar-Ortiz Sr., and her stepmom, Laura Ramirez, are also behind bars at the Allegheny County jail.

The community of Oakmont is in a state of shock as the details in this case continue to come out.

“I told my daughter last night I was up in the middle of the night crying many nights after I found out,” said neighbor Somporn Hall.

Oakmont couple Somporn and Joe Hall live a few doors down from the duplex where little 3-year-old Bella Seachrist was allegedly abused on 10th Street in Oakmont.

“After seeing this girl brought out, and then learning what happened, I assumed it was an accident, rough housing because the boys are rough. Then, finding out what actually happened, we were shocked,” said Joe Hall.

Police were called to the home on June 9 for an unresponsive child.

Bella was found in the bathtub wearing just a diaper. She was wet and had bruises on her legs and arms and a brown substance coming out of her nose.

(Photo Credit: Provided)

She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Doctors say she had signs of physical abuse, sexual abuse and extreme malnutrition.

Police said Bella’s dad and stepmom have been in a relationship for 15 years. The couple have three kids together. The complaint goes on to say Ortiz had an affair with Bella’s mom and Bella was later born.

Photo Credit: Allegheny County

Ramirez told police she and Ortiz had custody of Bella since her mom lost custody of her over concerns of substance abuse.

“She thought she couldn’t provide the life Bella deserved and Jose was supposed to care for her and he didn’t,” said friend of the child’s family Arika Summers.

The complaint said Alexis Herrera is Ramirez’s sister and stayed with the family and also watched Bella. Neighbors said they would have helped if they had known Bella was living here, too.

RELATED STORIES:

• 3rd Suspect Wanted In Death Of 3-Year-Old Girl In Oakmont Turns Herself Into Police
• Police: 3 Facing Charges In Death Of 3-Year-Old Girl Found ‘Badly Bruised And Malnourished’ In
• Oakmont
• 3-Year-Old Girl Dies After Being Found Unresponsive At Oakmont Home

“I couldn’t identify this child. I didn’t know who it was. I just assumed it was a cousin visiting. It turns out she had been there for some time, I guess,” said Joe Hall.

The complaint also states that Bella weighed 29 pounds when she died.

The medical examiner determined that she died from malnutrition, failure to thrive due to chronic illness and hypoglycemia plus abuse and neglect.

Ramirez, Ortiz and Herrera all face multiple charges including homicide.