Post by Joanna on Oct 10, 2018 17:33:16 GMT -5
'She's Dead as a Doorknob' Callous Dad Tells 911
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A father in Michigan found his 10-month-old daughter dead inside her crib. Ninety minutes later, he coolly and callously told a police dispatcher the girl was “dead as a doorknob,” recordings show.
A prosecutor in Kent County played a recording of the call Wednesday made by Seth Welch (above right), 27, on August 2 after finding his daughter, Mary, unresponsive inside their home in Solon Township. “You know, just another day,” Welch told a dispatcher when asked how he was doing after the child’s death. “It is what it is.”
After an autopsy revealed the little girl died of malnutrition and dehydration due to neglect, Welch and his wife, Tatiana Fusari (left), were charged with felony murder and first-degree child abuse. The 10-month-old girl weighed only eight pounds and police said in an affidavit that the couple admitted their daughter had been underweight, but appeared healthy. Welch and Fusari claimed they didn’t seek medical help because they didn’t trust doctors, which stemmed from a previous report to child welfare officials after they disagreed with a doctor’s recommendation concerning another of their children, who is 4-years-old. The couple also has a 2-year-old child.
Judge Sara Smolenski ordered both Welch and Fusari held for trial on both charges during today’s court appearance. She also admonished Welch for his “callousness” regarding his daughter’s death. “It is as horrific as it gets,” Smolenski said of the child’s malnourishment. “The skeletal-like posture of the child, in my opinion, speaks volumes for how long the baby was not cared for properly. The 10-month-old baby weighed eight pounds at death.”
An attorney for Welch argued the child suffered from a metabolic disorder that blocked the absorption of nutrients, but a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy testified he found no metabolic diseases or parasites in the girl.
Welch, meanwhile, was visibly upset in court while listening to his 911 call played aloud. He told the dispatcher he called his attorney 90 minutes earlier to ask what to do next. He also called his parents. “I guess I don’t know if this is the right place to report this to,” Welch told a dispatcher. “One of my children is dead.”
Source: Joshua Rhett Miller, The New York Post, October 10, 2018.
