For nearly three hours yesterday, Danieal Kelly’s father portrayed himself as a caring parent who was prevented from helping his daughter avoid death while under the watch of his ex-wife and unresponsive social service agencies.
The prosecution in Daniel Kelly’s child-endangerment trial responded by alleging he just walked away, leaving Danieal in her mother’s care, after a family argument in West Philadelphia.
Assistant District Attorney Ed McCann maintained Kelly pursued no legal options to regain custody when Andrea Kelly kept the children from him by moving and not telling him where they lived.
“I knew for a fact that she would be totally dependent on me for life and I accepted that,” Kelly said. “I was happy to have her with me.”
Kelly explained how his mother-in-law Naomi Washington helped him take Danieal and her brother away because of concerns about their care in 2001. They moved to Arizona, then returned to Philadelphia in 2005 to re-engage with their mother and siblings.
When a family fight drew police, Kelly was ordered to leave, crashed at friends’ apartments and never saw Danieal again.
Gone to Indiana
Confronted about not notifying anyone that he moved to Indiana before a
Dec. 2010 court appearance, Daniel Kelly responded, “I’ve had physical
problems, developed ulcers, a lot of anxiety. It got to the point, at
the last minute, when I just got scared. I’m not making excuses, just
trying to explain. This has all taken a toll on me. I loved [Danieal]
with all of my heart.”
