An Alabama nurse practitioner indicted on a charge of aggravated child abuse involving her adopted daughter is also charged with attempted murder.
An Alabama nurse practitioner indicted on a charge of aggravated child abuse involving her adopted daughter is also charged with attempted murder, according to new court records made public Monday.
Trussville police over the weekend announced the arrest of 39-year-old Kala Blakely, who lives in Trussville and operates Hometown Family Medicine in Moody. She was booked into the Jefferson County Jail Friday night and remained held without bond on Monday.
The allegations against Blakely involve a 12-year-old girl whom Blakely adopted.
Court records do not yet list an attorney to comment on Blakely’s behalf.
A Jefferson County grand jury issued the indictment against Blakely on Oct. 22. On the attempted murder charge, the indictment said Blakely attempted to intentionally cause the death of the girl by committing an overt act towards the commission of the crime of murder “by medical neglect and/or strangulation and/or starvation and/or beating her.”
On the charge of attempted murder, the indictment states Blakely “did willfully torture” the 12-year-old 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.”
Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush said the investigation began in January when the victim was taken to Children’s of Alabama. She was released back into the care of Blakely, who is married with three other children. Blakely was given specific instructions on how to care for the child. Investigators found the adoptive mother refused to follow doctor’s orders.
The child also suffered bruises, scratches and lacerations on her spine, legs, arms, and feet, and had lost a significant amount of weight.
Rush called the details of the investigation “very disturbing.”
The child had only been with Blakely for several months and no longer in her care.
According to her online biographies and the website for Hometown Family Medicine, Blakely is a two-time UAB School of Nursing alumna and served as an assistant professor at the School of Nursing. She received the Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence in 2018.
