The husband of an Alabama nurse practitioner jailed for the attempted murder of her adopted daughter has now been arrested on the same charge.
A grand jury indicted Bartley Blakely, 42, this week, and he was arrested on Friday and released after paying a $150,000 bond, WIAT reported.
His wife, Trussville nurse practitioner Kala Blakely, 39, was charged in October with aggravated child abuse and attempted murder after a months-long investigation. She was later released on bond, according to jail records.
Details on Bartley Blakely’s charges were not immediately available, but Trussville Police Lt Clint Riner said the case “was taken through Jefferson County grand jury, and there was enough probable cause to issue the warrant to him as well,” the Trussville Tribune reported.
Court records in Kala Blakely’s case said that she tried to kill her adopted daughter “by medical neglect and/or strangulation and/or starvation and/or beating her.” The indictment also says that Blakely “did willfully torture” the girl by “hitting her and/or stomping on her and/or refusing her medical treatment, and/or starving her, and said abuse having taken place on more than one occasion,” according to AL.com.
The investigation began in January, Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush said, when the 12-year-old girl was taken to Children’s of Alabama and released back into the care of the Blakelys with specific instruction on caring for the child.
Investigators found that Kala Blakely had refused to follow doctor’s orders and that the child had bruises, scratches, and cuts on her spine, legs, arms, and feet, and had lost a considerable amount of weight.
“The details of this investigation are very disturbing to me,” Rush said. “Our detectives took this case and did an excellent job in protecting this child from further abuse.”
The adopted girl was removed from the Blakely’s home. They have three other children together, and it’s not clear where they are.
At the time of her arrest, Kala Blakely operated a family medical clinic in Moody, Alabama. It’s unclear if she still does.
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[Featured image: Bartley Blakely and Kala Blakely/Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office]
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