Kelley Gann

Case record: Kelley Gann

Background

Kelley Lynn Gann was a 32-year-old Rosenberg woman.

The offence

Kelley Gann caused the death of a 3-month-old girl in her care.

On October 24, 2012, Gann was babysitting an infant. Shortly before the baby was to be picked up by her mother, Gann called 911 and reported the child was not breathing.

Investigation

Rosenberg Police Department conducted the investigation under the supervision of Assistant Chief Tracie Dunn, who was a lieutenant at the time.

A woman at the Woodland Inn & Suites, 4814 Avenue H, called police about 4:30 p.m. to say the baby was unconscious and unresponsive. On Wednesday, Rosenberg police began investigating the case after the baby was pronounced dead about 5:15 p.m. at Oak Bend Hospital in Richmond. Investigators noted what appeared to be injuries on the child's body, and police said a medical examiners would have to determine the cause of death.

Doctors examined the baby at Oak Bend Medical Center and immediately recognized that the infant had sustained multiple skull fractures.

Former Galveston County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Pustilnik performed an autopsy on the baby, who was three days shy of turning four months old. The autopsy report indicated that the baby died from blunt force trauma to her head, and the medical findings indicated multiple impacts to the baby’s head had occurred.

Arrest

Kelley Gann was arrested Thursday at the Rosenberg Police Department, where she remained at mid-afternoon until she could be transferred to the Fort Bend County Jail. Assistant Chief Dallis Warren said bail was set at $500,000.

Trial

Kelley Gann pled guilty on Tuesday.

Sentencing

On July 4, 2014, Kelley Gann was sentenced to life in prison without parole for causing the death of a child in her care in 2012.

District Attorney John Healey said:

“Many people worked together to get justice for this innocent baby”

“The Rosenberg Police Department did an excellent job on this heart-wrenching case.”

Suzy Morton, Chief of the District Attorney’s Office Child Abuse Division, said:

“Lead detective John Rivera and all of the detectives who worked the case are to be commended, as is Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Lieutenant James Fontenot, who was instrumental in the successful outcome of the case.”

“Prosecutors Lisa Gregg and Michael Hartman worked with the detectives throughout the investigation to secure an arrest warrant for the perpetrator of this brutal crime as soon as possible,”

Morton also said:

“The evidence in the case was overwhelming and very disturbing. We are thankful that the family of this precious child did not have to go through a jury trial,”

Lisa Gregg said:

After sentencing, the baby’s mother said:

“Now there is justice for our baby; there is a tiny bit of closure for our family. A murderer has been sentenced to spend the rest of her rotten life in prison, where she will never have the chance to harm another sweet child. We thank all of the individuals that helped bring her killer to justice. We thank them for their genuine empathy and concern for our family during this tragedy.”

Prosecutors said this was one of the most horrific cases either of them had ever encountered.

Other details

The infant was a 3-month-old girl; the autopsy timing placed the infant as three days shy of turning four months old. The injuries were multiple skull fractures and blunt force trauma with multiple impacts to the baby’s head.