The short, horrific life of Danieal Kelly

On August 4, 2006, 14-year-old, Danieal Kelly's starved 42-pound body was discovered in Andrea Kelly's West Philadephia home.  Danieal had only been dead for a few hours, yet when the police and paramedic's entered the home they were immediately assaulted by the smell of decay.

Danieal was found on a feces covered, filthy mattress, Her emaciated body was covered with maggot infested bedsores and the shape of her body had been forever imprinted into the mattress from where she had lain for so long. This poor child must have been in agony for months.

The saddest part about this story is that Danieal Kelly did not have to die at all. Child Protective Services was already involved with this family and supposed to monitoring her care, yet even though they received numerous reports, on an already open case, they did not even try to check on Danieal.

According to the Grand Jury Report, released last year, it is believed that neither DHS nor MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Inc., who had been outsourced by DHS to handle Danieal’s case, had even seen her during their entire tenure.

The Grand Jury further states:

"Employees of DHS and the private agency it hired were, when they bothered to show up at all, literally on the other side of the door. But they rarely if ever went inside. The biggest flurry of activity occurred only after Danieal died – when supervisors and staff scrambled to manufacture records in an effort to make it look like they had been doing something…We realize that complaints about DHS have been heard before. But no one inside the system has been prosecuted, despite a long string of deaths of children under DHS’s protection. We are hoping that appropriate criminal charges, along with the story told in this Report, may help illustrate the depth of the problems, and help finally to fix them… The dysfunction at DHS goes deep, down to the bone.”

More than nine people have been indicted in her death, including, but not limited to:

1. Andrea Kelly, Danieal’s mother, was charged with murder. Ms. Kelly plead guilty to 3rd degree murder and was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.
2. Daniel Kelly, Danieal's father, who has been charged with endangering Danieal’s welfare. Mr. Kelly has plead not guilty.
3. Andrea Miles, Marie Moses and Diamond Brantley, three of Andrea Kelly’s friends, who were charged with perjury for lying during the Grand Jury hearing. Ms. Miles, Ms. Moses and Ms. Brantley plead guilty to perjury.
4. Julius Murray, the MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Inc. employee who was supposed to be handling Danieal's case, is charged with Criminal Conspiracy, Involuntary Manslaughter, Forgery, and other related offenses. Mr. Murray has plead not guilty, Mr. Murray has also plead not guilty in a deportation case, according to philly.com, he faces charges for making a false statement to federal immigration authorities when he applied to become a U.S. citizen. . Mr. Murray is also facing Federal Charges for fraud and conspiracy, he has plead not guilty of those charges as well.
5. Laura Sommerer, The DHS social worker, who was supposed to be monitoring MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Inc. and their handling of Danieal's case, is charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and Recklessly Endangering Another Person. Ms. Sommerer plead guilty to Endangering the welfare of a child around July 15, 2009. As arranged through a plea agreement she received a sentence of 4 years probation and 100 hours of community service.
6. Mickal Kamuvaka, one of the founders/owners of MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Inc., and the direct supervisor of Danieal's case, is charged with Criminal Conspiracy, Involuntary Manslaughter, Forgery, and other related offenses. Ms. Kamuvaka has plead not guilty. Ms. Kamuvaka is also facing Federal charges of fraud, health-care fraud and conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation. She has plead not guilty in that case as well. The Grand Jury Report stated that, "Kamuvaka directed Murray to fabricate and backdate reports on the family, after Danieal's death."
7. Dana Poindexter, the DHS social worker who left Danieal's file sitting in a box covered with food wrappers and unopened mail, is charged with child endangerment. Mr. Poindexter has plead not guilty.

Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner ruled June 16, 2009 that the five remaining defendants should be tried together.

 Daniel Kelly will not stand trial until 2010

More social workers have been fired, resigned or retired in this case.

Danieal’s life was not always so horrific, by all accounts, when she lived with her father and his girlfriend in Arizona, she appears to have been a happy, well cared for child, mostly, due to her "stepmothers" care of her.  Pictures from this time in her life show her horseback riding, attending school, and attending parties. She appears healthy, well fed…and happy, her smile lights up the room.

Unfortunately, this happy time in her life did not last, in 2003, her father, Daniel Kelly moved back to Philadelphia with Danieal and in with Danieal’s mother, Andrea Kelly, and although Daniel Kelly, at the time, had custody of Danieal, when he moved out of the family home he did not take Danieal with him. Instead he left her in the care of Andrea Kelly, her mother, a woman who, by several accounts, wouldn’t even touch her, take her out in public, or lift a finger to take care of her.

Despite the neglectful and severely abusive life Danieal was left in she did have love in her life, her brother fought for her, he begged her mother to help her, he begged her to call 911; when he could not get his mother to take care of Danieal he did all that he could to try and take care of her himself. I do not even know his name, but he is the hero in this case and our heart goes out to him. I am sure you brought your sister comfort with the love that you showed her.

Danieal's older brother, who did not live in the home, tried to make sure his sister had food and drinks by giving his younger brother money to buy these necessary items for her. He is also a hero in our eyes. My thoughts and prayers are with Danieal's surviving brothers and sisters who are currently in foster care.

Many people did try to help Danieal, numerous calls were made to CPS, reports were made and although Child Protective Services was already involved with Danieal’s family and were supposed to be monitoring her care, they repeatedly ignored these reports and failed to check on her.

As a matter of fact, when Danieal died, these worker threw a party…a document forging party, they altered the records to show that they had went to the home, to show that they had protected this child, they fabricated a totally different story then the one that had really occurred. They did not care that Danieal Kelly was dead, they didn’t care that she suffered an infinite amount of pain. All they seem to care about was protecting themselves, it didn’t work!

Now, according to 6abc.com, Danieal Kelly’s parents have filed a lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia, “The lawsuit seeks monetary damages from the city because 14-year-old Danieal Kelly was under DHS supervision at the time of her death two years ago.”

Although Danieal was under the supervision of DHS at the time of her death, and they should be held accountable in her death, she was still in the legal custody of Daniel Kelly and in the physical custody of Andrea Kelly when she died. In the word’s of Mayor Michael Nutter, as quoted by news 6, “The parents, essentially, murdered their daughter and then turn around and sue us.”

Also according to news 6, the lawsuit states:
 

Danieal suffered "unbearable conscious pain and suffering, mental anguish and physical and mental injuries."

It also says Danieal's parents have been deprived of, among other things, her love and companionship.

The D.A. wonders where was the love when Danieal was dying of starvation.
 

All too clear, is the fact, that the abuse of Danieal is continuing, even after her death.