No criminal charges for social workers in fatal neglect case

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Two social workers who visited an Indianapolis home six days before the death of a disabled teenager from neglect and reported no concerns about her well-being, will not be face criminal charges, a spokeswoman for prosecutors said Friday.

The Aug. 4 death of Linda Kelley, with blackened bedsores covering much of her lower body, led the Department of Child Services to fire two employees for not following policies to ensure the safety of a child and to terminate Damar Services Inc.'s contract to provided home services in the child-welfare system. The dismissed workers included one who visited the home during the week before the girl's death.

"We were not presented with information that would rise to the level of criminal charges against DCS or Damar Services employees," Peg McLeish, a spokeswoman for the Marion County Prosecutors Office, said in an email to The Indianapolis Star (http://indy.st/1GA21WU ). "The parents had the actual physical custody and care of Linda."

John Kelley, 51, of Indianapolis and his wife, Lavonne Kelley, 40, were arrested Feb. 18 on one count each of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.

In September, after seeing pictures of the girl and the home, Marion Juvenile Court Judge Marilyn Moores said she could not understand how the workers visiting only six days earlier could submit positive reports on the conditions there.

The charges the parents face allege they failed to obtain proper medical treatment for their daughter, Linda Kelley, who developed bedsores that contributed to or caused her death. A probable cause affidavit states that Linda Kelley, who suffered from spina bifida and hydrocephalus - a buildup of fluid in the brain cavity - was found dead by Indianapolis police officers on the kitchen floor of her family's filthy, roach-infested home, clad only in a diaper.

A coroner found open bedsores on her feet, ankles, legs and other parts of her lower body, and ruled that she died from acute and chronic bedsores, with poor hygiene a contributing factor.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com