Adoptive Mother Allegedly Starves, Stomps And Tortures 12-Year-Old Girl; Gets Indicted

An Alabama nurse has been accused of starving and torturing her 12-year-old adopted daughter with an intention to kill her.

Kala Blakey, of Trussville, was indicted on charges of aggravated abuse and attempted murder for severely abusing and neglecting her adopted daughter, according to court documents made public Monday. The 39-year-old was booked into Jefferson County Jail on Friday night and held without bond, AL.com reported.

The investigation began on Jan. 21 after the unidentified 12-year-old girl was taken to Children's of Alabama hospital in Birmingham with severe injuries. The victim, who was in an emaciated state, had bruises and lacerations on her spine, legs, arms and feet.

After releasing her from the hospital, the doctors gave detailed instructions to the mother on how the girl should be taken care of. However, Blakey ignored all of that, investigators said.

Blakey, who is married and has three other children, formally adopted the girl a few months ago. The court documents indicate that she has been accused of willfully torturing the girl by "hitting her and/or stomping on her and/or refusing her medical treatment, and/or starving her." The child was reportedly abused on multiple occasions.

Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush described the investigation as "disturbing." The child has been removed from Blakey's custody.

"Our detectives took this case and did an excellent job in protecting this child from further abuse," Rush added, Law & Crime reported.

Blakey was an assistant professor at the UAB School of Nursing and was operating a family healthcare clinic. She received the Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence in 2018.

Earlier this month, a woman from New York was charged with murder after she locked her boyfriend's 7-year-old son in a bedroom and starved him to death. Leticia Bravo, 39, a professional childcare provider, was the primary caregiver of her boyfriend's child. Bravo kept the boy "secreted" inside a locked bedroom without food in her apartment in Newburgh. The boy weighed just 37 pounds when his lifeless body was brought to a hospital in Newburgh in February. An autopsy determined that the victim's death was caused by extreme malnutrition.