Local : Couple Arrested in Child’s Death

The stepfather and mother of a 4-year-old Lake Los Angeles girl were arrested this morning about 12 hours after the death of the girl, who had bruises on most of her body, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

The cause of Christina Mary Elizabeth Blalock’s death will not be known until an autopsy is conducted, Deputy Chris Wahla said. The girl died about 6 p.m. Tuesday at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center where doctors found severe trauma to her back and buttocks and bruises on face, legs and abdomen, Wahla said.

After a 12-hour investigation by homicide and child abuse detectives, the girl’s stepfather, William Welshans, 24, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and her mother, Mary Welshans, 23, was arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse, Wahla said.

Two other children in the Welshans’ home, ages 5 years and 19 months, were taken into protective custody by the county Division of Children’s Services, Wahla said.

Exactly what happened to the girl was not known, Wahla said. The victim’s mother called 911 at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday and told an emergency dispatcher that her daughter had stopped breathing after falling off a woodpile at the family’s home in the 17000 block of Vaeport Avenue.

The child was airlifted to the hospital where staff members saw her injuries and called investigators because the injuries were not consistent with a fall, Wahla said.