Kelsey Shelton-Smith Briggs was born was December 28, 2002 to divorced parents, Raye Dawn Smith and Lance Briggs in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She lived with her mother but also spent time with her paternal side of her family, especially her father.
The first two years of her life were rather uneventful; Kelsey had not encountered any documented form of abuse thus far. This changed in January of 2005, right at the same time that Michael Porter, her mother’s new husband, entered the picture. At this point, Kelsey still lived with her mother and visited with her father often. Workers at Kelsey’s daycare began to notice signs of abuse. Kelsey had frequent bruising on her face and body and was even tested to see if the sudden bruising was caused by a medical condition. Tests ruled out a medical condition and as a result, both sides of Kelsey’s family began accusing each other of abusing the little girl.
On January 17th, 2005, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services confirmed that Kelsey was being abused, after her mother brought her to the hospital with a broken collarbone and multiple bruises. Smith claimed that the injuries were caused from a fall. Kelsey was placed with her paternal grandmother, Kathie Briggs, with supervised visitation from her mother. Kelsey’s behavior began to change at…show more content… Doctors confirmed that the fractures were in different stages of healing and were a result of abuse. Kelsey was taken into state custody at this time. She revealed that someone had hurt her but refused to say whom. Michael Porter’s seven-year-old daughter stated to investigators that Porter beat Kelsey until she became physically sick. She also said that he would be nice to Kelsey when other people were around. Despite these allegations, Kelsey was placed back with her mother and stepfather on June 15th, 2005, against DHS recommendation. Judge Craig Key, who made the decision, claimed that Kelsey’s abuser was