Mom’s lawsuit: Indiana ignored report that her son feared for his life
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Hayley Kelly was emotional as she spoke about her son.
Kelly says if somebody at the Indiana Department of Child Services had listened to her, her son would be alive today.
On her left forearm is a tattoo with the dates of the birth and death of her 10-year-old son Nakota Kelly. Her phone is full of pictures and videos of her son who died July 18. She says Nakota loved to sing, and was not afraid of cameras. She watches one video of Nakota singing a Michael Jackson song several times a day.
Wiping away tears, Kelly says she remembers his last words to her. On July 17, Nakota “had told me he was watching YouTube and eating Lunchables and just chillin out, taking it easy that day,” Kelly said.
Kelly says her son feared his father. The couple had shared custody, and a court order required Nakota to spend a few weekends a month with his father. In the days before he went to his dad’s place, he was nervous, she says.
“He was in the backseat and had just hung up (on the phone) with his dad, and he said, ‘Whose house do I go to this weekend?’ and I said, ‘You go to your dad’s house this weekend,’ and he said, ‘Oh, no, I’m dead. Don’t expect me to come home,’ and I related that to” the Department of Child Services, Kelly said.
She says no one from the department responded.
Her last complaint to the Department of Child Services, according to the lawsuit, was valid, and the lack of action cost her son his life.
The lawsuit also states Anthony Dibiah on July 18 backed his sport utility vehicle into a parking spot in front of his apartment. He made three trips from his apartment while carrying items that were later dumped in a community trash dumpster.
He told at least two people that he killed his son and asked one of them if he could borrow a suitcase.
Police found blood splattered in a bedroom and bathroom. Investigators also found brain matter on the bathroom floor.
Nakota’s body has never been recovered.
Kelly says filing the lawsuit will hopefully help protect other children. “That things will change and that they will look further into investigations and listen to the child when the child says they are scared. Listen,” she said.
Dibiah was arrested in Missouri and has been charged with Nakota’s murder. Kelly has not spoken to him since July 2020.
Indiana Department of Child Services declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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