affidivit of probable cause for ryan mcconniel

8/6/2019 Affidivit of Probable Cause for Ryan McConniel

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6. Per Brittany and Ryan, as reported in the Riley Hospital records, theyreported L.M. 's behavior was odd from the time she first came to theirhome. They reported L.M. would talk little, she would climb the.walllike a wet cat if they tried to give her a shower. She would pee andp-GQ}? in her p-ants 5G IHldGh that they sta"te-a ptrt:tin~ her inEli-ape~s:eventhough she had been potty trained for 3 years. She would store food inher cheeks. She would mutilate her dolls. L.M. started biting herselfand her siblings. She would bite them badly and repeatedly. She wouldbite her own fingers and toes to the point ofcbleeding. She then beganplaying with her stool. She would get stool from her own diapers and putit on her siblings and laugh about this. L.M. would smear it in theirhair and try to put it on her dad, They reported this is the only timeL.M.would Lauqh ..Asked if. t.heyrs ouqht; medical attention related forthis i3:1?rmingbehavj,.or:theyreP9'rted no.

7. The more time L.M. spent in the custody of Ryan and Brittany, the moreher behaviors became increasingly bizarre. There were reports of rockingand staring at the wall for hours repeating I hate myself. She wasreported to eat food out of trash cans. She would eat her own vomit. Shewould wander the house at night and not sleep. L.M. was losing weightdue to no appetite. She even began to eat her own feces. She wasreported to see little blue bunnies that kept her awake at night tellingher to do bad things. This included stabbing daddy. L.M. was found withboth a butcher knife and scissors during this time. Ryan and Brittneynoted that they believed L.M. to be a victim of past physical or sexualabuse from Amber but yet did nothing to report this or to try to receivehelp. These reports of Amber abusing L.M. were not substantiated.

8. On November 19, 2009 L.M. was taken to St.Vincent Randolph Hospital inWinchester Indiana complaining of soap in her eyes. Attending physicianwas Dr. Tom Huntington. Ryan and Britney reported L.M. 's primary caredoctor as Dr. Aaron Shoemaker in Winchester IN. As became apparent tothis affiant throughout the investigation, including all medical recordsobtained through L.M. 's death at Riley Hospital, Ryan and Britneyreported Dr. Shoemaker as the primary care physician throughout. HoweverDr. Shoemaker, although supposedly attending to L.M. 's malnutritionissues, never one time saw L.M .. Additionally neither Ryan nor Britneyreported any emotional or behavioral problems to the medical providersat St. Vincent's that they had observed in L.M ..

9. On December 8, 2009 L.M. was taken to Ball Memorial Hospital ER and seenby Dr. Tom Mangelt. Presenting problem was noted as broken right fingersfrom jumping on a bed. Once again Dr. Shoemaker was listed as L.M.'sprimary care physician. Follow-up with Dr. Shoemaker or Central Indianaorthopedics was ordered to occur w~thin three days. L.M. was never takento any follow up care. Once again neither Ryan nor Britney reported tomedical providers any of L.M.'s previously recognized bizarre behaviors.10.On December 16, 2009 L.M. was seen by Youth Pastor Timothy Black outsidethe Southside Church of the Nazarene. Ryan asked Pastor Black if he

would come outside to their van and see if he could convince L.M. tocome inside the church for a party. Pastor Black said he went outside tothe van and introduced himself to L.M .. Pastor Black asked L.M. if shewould like to come inside with the other kids and have cookies andjuice. He noted that from the start of his observation of L.M. she satin the car seat and repeated over and over, "fucking bitchN After aboutfive minutes Pastor Black gave up and told Britney and Ryan that L.M.needed professional help and that they should seek help very soon. L.M.later came into the back of the church and stayed away from everyone


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else and just stared off. Pastor Black noted she seemed very palecolored and frail.11.L.M. was next seen by a medical provider on February.4, 2010 at Southway

Urqerrt; Care by Bill Gos:nell Rt.(J.L. L v 1 . !S presentirlg- probie-ril was rioted toobe burning urination and Ryan stated that L.M. 's vaginal area did notlook normal. When Gosnell tried to examine L~M. she began knockingherself in the head with her fist but not hard enough to cause bruising.Ryan reported that L.M. had been hitting herself hard enough to bruiseherself and had regressed back to wearing diapers. None of L.M.'s otherproblems were reported. Ryan told Gosnell that L.M. had been with Amberthe last 6 to 7 months and that they were not happy with L.M.'s care byher ".In truth,L.M. hadbeenihRyanand Britney's care for the last sixmonths. Dr. Shoemake~ wasonceagaiI1notedtobe L.l1.'5 primary care .physician. Gosnell urged Ryan and Britney to gyt L.M. in to Meridianpsychological services. .

12.0n February 10, 2010 L.M. was taken to Meridian services where she sawKaren Royer. The first session was with Ryan and Britney. They reportedL.M. had lost 3 pounds in the last two months, defecated in herbrother's bed while he was in it, hit herself, and would sit on thefloor rocking for hours saying she hated herself. She was reported tohave been hallucinating the last 2 to 3 months and would see bluebunnies that made her do bad things, eat out of the trash, make herselfvomit and eat her vomit, smear and eat her feces and also use the phrasefucking bitch often. Britney and Ryan also said L.M. wasn't pottytrained yet and still was wearing diapers. One and a half months agoL.M. hid a knife in her diaper and wanted to stab her stepmotherBritney. Karen Royer met again with L.M., Ryan and Britney on February22, 2010 wherein they reported that L.M. had hid scissors in her diaperto hurt Ryan. L.M. told Karen that she slept on a pallet on the floor athome because her bed was dirty from her wetting and defecating in thebed. L.M. referred to her natural mother as Amber and said Amber madeher take cold showers, her clothes were dirty, he~ fingers would getbent back, and Amber would stick her fingers in her when she was bad.None of these behaviors as reported inflicted by Amber were confirmed.Karen Royer met with L.M. again on March 1, 2010 noting that L.M. wasawake for only about 10 minutes. Britney said L.M. was hiding food inher diaper, eating vomit, and would wander the house and wouldn't sleepmore than three hours. L.M.~looked exhausted, frail and fragile. KarenRoyer encouraged them to get food in her. Britney reported that theywere giving her Pediasure and Gerber Junior foods. Karen Royer reportedthat in all her years of dealing with kids she had never heard of suchbizarre behavior and believed L.M. was being seriously sexually abused.Out of the three appointments L.M. was only seen briefly on twooccasions. Dr. Shoemaker was once again reported as her primary carephysician and was reported to be treating L.M. for her nutritionalissues.

13.0n March 2, 2010, an ambulance was called for L.M. after she had fallenand hit her head earlier in the day. Other than reporting that L.M.would scream very loudly when not paid attention to, Ryan and Britneyreported no other problems with L.M .. L.M. was given a CT scan at BallMemorial which was normal. Clinical impression was noted as malnutritionand behavioral problems. Britney reported that she did not know if L.M.was really hurt or just acting out. L.M.'s parents reported that L.M.fell a lot, gets dizzy, walks into things, hits herself, and has notbeen eating over the last couple months. They reported that L.M. wasseeing a psychiatrist at Meridian services and her pediatrician Dr.Shoemaker was aware of her conditions and she was being treated by Dr.Shoemaker who had weighed her two days earlier at 37.4 pounds. As noted


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previously L.M. never saw Dr. Shoemaker. When asked about L.M. 's medicalhistory Ryan and Britney reported no surgeries, broken bones or othermedical problems.lZl.Laf.er in the afternoon oh March 2, 2010, L.M. 's c o n d i t i o n w o r s e n e d t othe extent that she was bumping into other people and appea.red unable tosee. L.M. was becoming nonresponsive. Believing this to be a psychiatric

issue, Ryan and Britney tried to contact Meridian services and whenunable ',ook L.M .to Valley Vista hea.lt-h system in''Greenwood India.na.L.M. was seen by Ellen Harrington, LMHC. Britney and Ryan reported someof L.M.'s prior behavioral issues including seeing blue bunnies for sixmonths along with a four pound weight loss in the last two weeks. Theynoted that L.M. 's bizarre behavior hadincreased,t0c:iay,that being March2, .2010 . Dr. Shoemaker was repo:r:tE:dsL, .M.'s prj_If\p-p:iCiHephysicia.Tl.when requested to sign a release Of information to Dr.,>Shoerrtaker, Ryanand Brittany provided an invalid telephone number and address inWinchester. L.M.'s diagnosis was lack of supervision, failure to thrive,malnutrition, and medical neglect. L.M. was referred to Riley Children'sHospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.15.L.M. presented to Riley Hospital in the early-morning hours of March 3,2010 where she was seen by a multitude of medical providers L.M.'sprimary physician at Riley was Dr. Antoinette Laskey who is a childabuse specialist for Riley Hospital and the head of the Indiana StateChild Fatality Review Board. Shortly after arriving, L.M. developedgeneralized tonic colonic seizure, respiratory failure and shock. Shewas found to be suffering from severe malnutrition with no subcutaneousfat or fat reserves whatsoever. It was reported that L.M. had a verysignificant psychiatric history since returning to father's custody inAugust of 2009. This history included aggression, feeding dysfunction,self mutilation, hallucinations, hiding knives and threatening to killfamily members, eating feces and her own vomit. Most significantly L.M.was found to be hypernatremic upon admission which is an extremely highsodium level or salt in the blood. In this case her level was 187.Anything over 152 is likely to cause seizure and death. Ryan and Britneynow admit to Riley Hospital Representative that Dr. Shoemaker has never

seen L.M .. They report that L.M. was seen by Meridian services for thelast five weeks one time per week.16.In a psychological evaluation done at Riley Hospital Ryan and Britneyreported that soon after returning to their custody that L.M. 's behaviorwas as follows; talked little, climbed the wall like a wet cat if triedto shower, pee and poop so much that she needed diapers, store food inher cheeks, mutilate toys, biting self and siblings, bite her ownfingers and toes to the point of bleeding, play with and smear poop onher siblings and Ryan which was the only time that L.M. would laugh.Additionally reported was hiding scissors in diapers to stab dad, hidinga butcher knife to stab Britney, choking herself and playing with hergenitals and inserting items into her vagina. Ryan and Britney admittedthat they sought no medical or psychological attention for these

behaviors at the time. The psychological evaluation summarized thatbased on the history provided by father and stepmother, symptomsreported and observed over past six months are concerning for severe andpersistent abuse and neglect. The patient's severe malnutrition isconcerning, especially in light of the fact that no medical treatmentwas sought until the last month. Behavioral symptoms as severe andprogressive as those reported by father and stepmother would've alsowarranted earlier evaluation by physician and mental-healthprofessionals.


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17.Dr. Laskey's final reports note that she had reviewed L.M.'s chart inits entirety including all labs and radiological studies done to date.She notes that father and stepmother never saw L.M. eat salt and that nosalt shakers were reported. Later salt shakers were reported but kept ata height. Finally it was admitted that thefarnily salt shaker was a Ragujar with holes punched in the lid. Dr. Laskey reports that externaladministration of salt is indicated and that a child could not eat thequantity of salt voluntarily that would cause the deadly levelspresented. Further, -Dr.Laskeyreports~ that L,M:had bruisesy,scrapes,and abrasions over multiple body surfaces. Also multiple blood blisterson fingers into nails on feet and that the fing~rs appeared chewed off.Further that L.M. was malnourished to thepoint. of wasting. She was the .'averagesizeof a 30 month old child withno fat stores atall ..TQieachtl;1isSPQditionwould take some time if she startedre:Lativelyno:(I1l~J~:Itis not cleai:,-whyno care was sought in .theface of extremebi:z;cir;c.e..behavlorsin a child who was reportedly normal developmentallyespecially as symptoms worsened over time. Despite all efforts toidentify an underlying medical cause for life-threatening condition,there is absolutely no evidence that this is an intrinsic medicalcondition. Given her overall physical condition including extrememalnutrition, the injuries noted on nearly all body surfaces and herextreme lab derangements, these findings are most consistent withphysical abuse as evidenced by her physical injuries and most likelyadministration of some form of salt, possibly as punishment. It ishighly likely there is a component of extreme psychological andemotional abuse. Dr. Laskey reports "there is clearly medical evidenceof extreme medical neglect. Her declining weight, ultimately putting herat the average weight of a 2 1/2 year old child, her extreme psychiatricsymptoms with no attempt to seek medical care for them and her eatingproblems all would have been more than obvious to a reasonable caregiveras necessitating emergent medical care." Laskey further states that"review of the medical literature and discussion with various consultingservices indicates that salt administration would likely result in arapid increase in her sodium levels, this could not have been a long-standing condition, i.e. days." Dr. Laskey ended her report noting that"to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the injuries and findingsdescribed above cannot plausibly be explained by accidental injury, pre-existing medical illness, reasonable discipline or benign events.Therefore, these injuries should be considered consistent with inflictedtrauma that being child abuse."

18.In a follow-up interview with Amber, L.M.'s natural mother, Amber notedthat in August 2009 L.M. was healthy and gaining weight appropriately.L.M. did not exhibit any signs of psychosis or altered mental status.She exhibited no staring spells, hallucinations or being unresponsive.L.M. was extremely outgoing and playful with other siblings showing nosigns of aggression or behavioral concerns. Lastly, that there were noself injurious behaviors as noted after being returned to Ryan andBritney's. Ryan admits in an interview on March 10, 2010 that when hegot L.M. in August 2009 from Amber that L.M. looked happy and healthy.Further that he has seen a very big decline in L.M. and her health inthe last five or six months and that he shouldn't have gotten her fromher natural mother. Other witnesses indicate that Britney would withholdfood from L.M. as punishment.

19.In a psychological evaluation performed on K.M. on May 13, 2010 it wasdetermined that she is of average cognitive and academic skills and wasable to demonstrate that she understood right from wrong and truestatements from false statements. In the evaluation K.M. noted that L.M.got in trouble when she was bad and that Britney and Ryan


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"would hit her on the bottom of her feet with a stick from a gate andmake her do jumping jacks, push-ups and stuff." She went on to say that"it was scary there I didn't like the way they hit her it made me cry."It was also reported that K.M. will not eat food that she cannot witnessbeing cooked and has asked what would happen if someone put poison infood. K.M. also indicated that she had experienced a history of severePllysical pun.ishmerrt, Itv v 2 1salso repo;ctedbyI):.M. that wheT).ba.dL ..M:.wasmade to hold heavy cans of food or heavy books with arms outstretchedand was hit with a wet towel. Lastly, she reports that no one gaveL.M.hugs or kisses.20.Thatthisarrest ofResulting

affiant; isi!=9:1:lesi::ingthatthis Court. issue "awarrapt'Q;ctheRyan)\Jeal McCorrnielfor the offense of Negle:tof DependeIltin Death, a .Class A FeloIly.

I affirm under the penalties of perjury that the foregoing representations aretrue to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date:

Approved by:

Jeffrey L. Arnold

affidivit of probable cause for ryan mcconniel

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