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Nurse Practitioner Accused Of Abusing Adopted Daughter Has Been Charged With Her Attempted Murder
Despite a number of injuries leading to her hospitalization, the child was released into the care of Kala Blakely, her alleged abuser.
A grand jury in Alabama decided this week to indict a nurse practitioner accused of abusing her adopted daughter.
Kala Kameron Blakely, 39, was arrested on Friday following a grand jury’s decision to hand down an indictment on charges of aggravated child abuse of a non-family member and attempted murder, the Trussville Police Department said. They added that the arrest of the nurse practitioner and University of Alabama assistant professor came after a months-long investigation into the alleged abuse of the suspect’s 12-year-old adopted daughter.
According to police, authorities received had complaints about the girl's physical signs of abuse in January after medical professionals contacted the Department of Human Resources.
“The investigation began months ago, and it was an exhaustive investigation that involved interviewing multiple witnesses and medical professionals,” Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush said. “Our investigators turned the information over to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, and they took the case to the grand jury.”
Police say the girl, who is Spanish-speaking, was admitted to the Children’s of Alabama hospital after sustaining bruises, scratches, and lacerations to her spine, legs, arms and feet. The girl had also lost a significant amount of weight.
Several agencies including the DHR, Prescott House, and the Jefferson County district attorney’s office assisted Trussville Police with the investigation, finding that Blakely ignored the doctor’s instructions after releasing the child back into her care.
“The details of this investigation are very disturbing to me,” Rush continued. “Our detectives took this case and did an excellent job in protecting this child from further abuse.”
The child was in Blakely’s care for several months, according to Birmingham Real-Time News. Blakely is married and has three other children. The victim has been removed from Blakely’s care.
The Oct. 22 indictment stated that Blakely intentionally tried to cause the child’s death “by medical neglect and/or strangulation and/or starvation and/or beating her,” according to Real-Time News. The charges further indicate that Blakely “did willfully torture” the child by “hitting her and/or stomping on her and/or refusing her medical treatment and/or starving her, and said abuse having taken place on more than one occasion.”
Blakely was released on Monday on a $60,000 bond, according to jail records. Her next court appearance has yet to be scheduled. It is unclear if she has an attorney to speak on her behalf.
According to the Trussville Tribune, Blakely is a two-time alumna of the University of Alabama’s School of Nursing and board-certified to practice as a nurse practitioner in the state. She specializes in adult primary care and currently operates at Hometown Family Medicine in Moody.
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners awarded Blakely the AANP State Award of Excellence in 2018.
