Dad beat 3-year-old daughter with wooden backscratcher before she died, feds say
A North Dakota man and woman were arrested in connection with the 2022 death of the man’s 3-year-old daughter.
Austin Ray Lester, 28, and Krissy Louise Hinsley, 25, both of Tokio, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child neglect, according to an April 22 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota. Lester is also being charged with assault of a child with a dangerous weapon.
McClatchy News reached out to attorneys for Lester and Hinsley but did not immediately hear back.
Lester’s daughter, Ariana Morningstar McKay, died Aug. 27, 2022, at a Minnesota hospital, according to her obituary.
“Ariana was a happy baby girl, who always had a smile. Ariana liked watching Cocomelon. She enjoyed walking to the park, getting her makeup done,” the obituary said.
According to an indictment, between Dec. 21, 2021, and Aug. 21, 2022, Lester assaulted Ariana with a wooden backscratcher.
Lester and Hinsley are accused of neglecting Ariana and failing to “obtain timely medical care.”
Hinsley was Lester’s girlfriend at the time, according to the Jamestown Sun.
The indictment said the two did not provide proper parental care and left Ariana unsupervised, allowing Ariana to access acetaminophen.
Ariana was taken to a hospital after family said she drank an entire bottle of adult Tylenol, the Jamestown Sun reported.
Lester and Hinsley were arrested on April 19, court records show. After appearing in court, they were ordered detained until further hearing, officials said.
Tokio is within the Spirit Lake Reservation. It’s a roughly 160-mile drive northwest of Fargo.
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