The man accused of abusing and starving his 10-month-old daughter to death waited a full 90 minutes to call 911 after he found the infant girl dead — and made a call to his lawyer first.
The 10-month-old girl reportedly weighed only 8 pounds at the time of her death. Dr. David Start, who performed the autopsy, reportedly said at the hearing that the girl died of “malnutrition associated with dehydration due to neglect of adult caregivers.
Audio of the 911 call played at the hearing shows that Welch was unemotional during the conversation with the dispatcher. He admits that the baby had been left alone to sleep for 19 hours before he and his wife decided to check on her. When he found her, Welch says in the 911 call, she was “dead as a doorknob.”
At another point in the call, when the dispatcher asks how he is doing, Welch says, “You know, just another day. It is what it is.”
Welch and Fusari have two other children, ages 2 and 4, and rejected traditional healthcare and reportedly didn’t trust doctors. An investigation reportedly found that the deceased baby and the two-year-old boy had not received any medical care.
Judge Sara Smolenski ordered the couple to trial and remain in custody until that time.
“It is as horrific as it gets,” she said, according to MLive. “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.”
