Kansas Parents Charged In Death Of 2-Month-Old Baby At Hotel
Kyle Kempton and Christy Rollings face involuntary manslaughter and related charges for the death of one of their twin sons, Patrick.
The parents of a 2-month-old infant found dead in a Kansas motel last week were charged on Tuesday with manslaughter and child endangerment.
Kyle Kempton and Christy Rollings both face charges of involuntary manslaughter and four counts of endangering a child, charges that accuse them of endangering their sons on Aug. 28 and Aug. 30, according to the Wichita Eagle, a local newspaper.
Their bonds were set at $150,000 each.
Patrick Kempton, one of the couple’s twins, was found dead around 6 a.m. Thursday in a hotel bed with his father, according to the Eagle. The surviving twin was taken into protective police custody, and transferred to the Wichita Children’s home.
Kempton, 34, and Rollings, 39, had been living for a week at the hotel, police said.
Two days before Patrick was found dead, police checked on the children. The couple was drunk, police said, so they removed the twins and gave them to what police described as a “responsible family member.” The next day, that person return to the children to the couple.
Police made a child neglect case on that incident, but failed to flag it as a priority, Taylor Forrest, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, told the Eagle.
In response to that criticism, police said “the children appeared to be in good physical condition, cared for and fed. Also, there was no reported physical abuse.”
Then, on Friday, the the Kansas Department for Children and Families told The Eagle that police should have considered taking the 2-month-old twins into protective custody after the initial incident.
Kempton was a licensed chiropractor until February; Rollings said she worked in a cafe.
Rollings said she met Kempton in rehab for substance abuse, a friend of Rollings told The Eagle.
Before her life with Kempton, Rollings had another life, with another man, and children. That man, who did not want to be identified, told KAKE News, the local ABC affiliate, "She used to be a good person; she really was.”
"She used to be a good mother, but drugs and alcohol got a hold of her and it messed her up.”
[Photo: Sedgwick County Jail]