KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — A Kalamazoo couple has been sentenced for the suffocation death of a 4-year-old girl.
Ex-boyfriend Matthew Longnecker is heading to prison for life and mother Kelly Ballinger was given 23 to 50 years for first degree child abuse and involuntary manslaughter
Judge Paul Bridenstine scolded and accused Longnecker of showing no remorse for his role in killing 4-year-old Desaray Thompson.
Pathologists said Thompson died last year from being tightly wrapped and smothered in a blanket that was duct taped.
They added that bruises and injuries to the little girl’s body showed that she had been beaten and abused regularly for sometime.
Longnecker and the girl’s mother, Kelly Ballinger were high on meth the night the girl died.
