This is a truly horrible story. Kathleen Steele, a 62-year old who appeared on a reality show titled “I’m Pregnant and 55 Years Old,” has been charged with aggravated manslaughter. And the details of the case are simply incomprehensible. According to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, Steele’s six-year-old son beat his newborn sister to death while the kids and their three -year old brother were left alone. The victim was 13 days old. The incident took place on Monday afternoon after Steele left the three children inside her minivan while she visited a cellphone store in St. Petersburg. “It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen,” Gualtieri said during a press conference yesterday, per The Tampa Bay Times. Officials have confirmed that Steele’s two youngest children were born through artificial insemination, using her husband’s frozen sperm. The husband died of cancer in 2011 at age 66. As a result, Steele has been raising the kids on her own. The newspaper went on to write that the Florida native had taken the baby to a doctor Monday morning because she was not eating properly. The pediatrician found nothing wrong with the little girl and later said there were no signs of bruising or trauma at the time of the visit. A few hours later, Steele went into the cellphone store. Investigators say the six-year old boy was trying to calm the crying baby, as the toddler actually used a doll to show police how he went about doing this. In front of the authorities, he repeatedly slammed the newborn’s head into the minivan’s ceiling and showed how he bludgeoned her to death. Steele then returned to the van… her son tried to tell her something was wrong with the newborn… she she ignored him and even made another stop before returning home. She did not notice the baby’s injuries until then. “The baby was beaten and traumatized,” the sheriff said. “There was gross swelling in her face. Her skull was cracked in numerous places.” Authorities went on to say that Steele didn’t even call 911. Instead, she contacted a neighbor, who is a nurse. This nurse performed CPR until paramedics arrived. The six-year-old boy will not face criminal charges, although hopefully he will receive some psychiatric treatment. “The mistake is with the adult Kathleen Steele, not a six-year-old boy,” Gualtieri said. Steele was already being investigated by child protection investigators due to a minor brain bleed that the baby suffered following a fire. She was scheduled to be evaluated by investigators on August 1, but she canceled and then rescheduled. Her sons have been placed in foster care, according to the Florida paper, and she is being held on $100,000 bond.
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Toddler Kills Newborn Sibling; Former Reality Star Charged with Manslaughter
