Kelsey Smith Briggs – Tragedy Still in Progress

Kelsey Smith Briggs – Tragedy Still in Progress

Originally published: January 28, 2010 by troyofillinois

KarenCCC had mentioned this little girl’s name in numerous posts for Aaliyah. She states Kelsey is the reason for getting involved in Connie and Aaliyah Bedwell’s case. I finally have found some time to do some research about this precious child, and I do not like what I have come across.

Kelsey Smith Briggs was a two year old child who was physically abused, sexually abused and murdered on October 11, 2005. DHS/CPS was involved with her for the last precious months of her life. Apparently, Raye Dawn Smith had no allegations of being accused of child abuse until Micheal Lee Porter made his way into their lives. Thanks to a lot of anger and resentment from both sides of the family, there are numerous blogs and forums to find information reagarding this tragedy. And also thanks to all of that animosity, I have come to a conclusion on who murdered this child.

First let me tell you that Raye Dawn Smith, the mother of Kelsey, was convicted of enabling abuse and is sitting in prison for 27 years. Michael Lee Porter is also sitting in prison for the same charges of enabling abuse, but for 30 years. He was initially charged with sexual abuse and murder, but was offered the plea of enabling abuse, which the paternal side of the family agreed to. As you can see, this is an injustice since no one has been convicted of Kelsey’s murder. There are numerous friends and family, on both sides, who believe that the other is responsible for the murder.

Kelsey’s first sign of abuse was when she was taken to the hospital with a broken collarbone. The hospital staff believed it to be child abuse. The police did not. People who are in support of Raye Dawn say the police who investigated the story of how Kelsey had broken her collarbone believed that she had fallen out of her crib. The people who support Michael Porter believe that because one of the officers was a friend of Raye’s, he would have said anything to help her. My opinion? They both could be right. A broken collarbone in a child is the most common broken bone of any, but it is also the most tell-tale sign of child abuse in such young children. The hospital staff claim that the bruises on her face did not coincide with the broken bone. I don’t understand that, so I do not wish to argue about who is right or wrong. The fact is, Raye Dawn was charged with child abuse by CPS. Kelsey was taken out of her home and placed with the paternal grandmother, Kathie Briggs. Kathie is the mother of Lance Briggs, the biological father. According to the websites and forums, Lance and Raye Dawn divorced before Kelsey was born. Raye Dawn supporters believe the divorce happened because Lance was physically abusive towards Raye. Michael Porter supporters believe that Raye just wanted a new man with money. Here is my first argument. According to friends and family on both sides, including Kathie, Lance was physical at one time or another during their relationship. It has also been stated that Raye Dawn was abusive. From my research on abusive relationships, women tend to not press charges nor do they go to the hospital when their partners are abusive. Why? Because they do not want to sever the relationship as of yet and nor do they want to “ruin” the life of their abuser by sending them to jail. That is tragic in itself. But now, Raye does not have any proof of the physical altercations, other than biased witnesses. Her side of her family and friends say it all happened how Raye stated it to have happened. And all of Lance’s side of his family and friends say things happened the way Lance had told it. Do you see the problem? I believe that there is always some truth in a lie and that people do embellish a bit. So, I will again say that Raye and Lance are telling the truth with what happened within their relationship behind closed doors. I will say this though, reading a “transcript” (quotations because it was written by a Raye Dawn supporter) of the recent hearing on the settlement Lance received after suing Oklahoma’s CPS of the wrongful death of his daughter, he stated he and Raye Dawn did not do drugs during their marriage, whereas Raye has said they did. BUT, in another transcript of Raye’s enabling abuse trial, he had stated that they BOTH had used drugs during their marriage. So, that is one lie that I have caught him in. And my beliefs tend to sway towards Raye at this point.

The main “fight” between the two groups of Raye Supporters and Mike Supporters is that Raye was told at her trial that “she should have known” her daughter was being abused by Michael Porter if in fact she was not the one giving her daughter the numerous bruises that poor Kelsey had. If you read all the information out there on this case, I can see where some believe that Raye may not have known. Why? Because every incident or bruise, Michael had an excuse. The child seemed to ONLY get hurt around him. But shouldn’t that have been the brightest red flag to Raye? Yes, indeed it should. Not only the bruises, but Kelsey would vomit, scream and cry when she was going to be left alone with Mike. Also, during one supervised visitation, Kelsey had stated to her mother that “daddy Mike hurt my feets and head.” Raye Dawn laughed and told her, “Mike couldn’t have hurt you, you haven’t seen him.” That makes my stomach turn ever time I hear that. Kelsey was crying out to her mother and she was laughed at, by the woman who was supposed to protect her. Michael was not allowed to be around Kelsey at this time and it seems that Raye Dawn was covering for the fact that she was indeed allowing him around her daughter. Grave mistake. Sad mistake.
Let me skip to the broken legs. Yes, Kelsey suffered two spiral breaks in both of her legs. At first, everyone thought she had only sprained her ankle on a trip to the zoo with her aunt. Neither parent nor grandparent were around her. Kelsey was taken to the doctor and her ankle was x-rayed. She was diagnosed with a sprained ankle. The doctor’s note stated for her to rest her ankle and walk as much as able. Raye states that the doctor told her to rest the ankle, but walking would be fine if tolerable and it would benefit Kelsey to not baby it. I will agree that doctors do say to do things that are not written on a form letter, but others will disagree with me; and that is fine. According to Raye Supporters, Raye had nothing to do with the breaks. According to Mike Supporters, she broke the baby’s legs because she wanted to frame Lance and his then wife Ashley for child abuse so she could have Kelsey all to herself. My first thought was that Mike broke the baby’s legs. Didn’t Kelsey say that “daddy Mike hurt my feets and head”? Yes, she did. I cannot imagine a mother breaking her own child’s legs just to frame someone, but I have a heart and a conscience. Because Kelsey’s legs were broken in the care of Kelsey’s aunt and in Kathie’s custody, they deemed it child abuse with an “unknown” perpetrator and took Kelsey out of Kathie’s home and into Kelsey’s great-grandmother’s care. The case worker stated to the judge that she did not feel that it was in the best interest of Kelsey to have Kathie as a carer. So, who broke Kelsey’s legs? Were they just an accident at the zoo or something more devastating?

In case anyone is wondering where Lance, the bio-dad, is during all of this; he is in the Army waiting to be deployed to Iraq. I am not going to get into all the he said/she said about Lance’s Army stint. I will give my opinion though, shoot, isn’t that why I am writing this? It seems to me, because there really is lack of proof of where he actually was and what he was doing at any given time of his Army career, that Lance has either a drug or alcohol problem. He also has an anger management problem. I am not saying he was not deployed to Iraq. What I am saying is I doubt he was the soldier his family and supporters make him out to be. I believe I read that he was in numerous fisticuffs while enlisted and there are rumors he was in an alcohol/drug rehabilitation center when his daughter was murdered. CPS could never get any verification where Lance was and Kathie stated numerous times that she “didn’t want to upset Lance about the situation at home” and claimed she did not have an address to write him nor a phone number to call. I am not saying any of that is untrue, I just find it very odd. I have known several people in the military and I have been able to get in touch with them all, at least my mail. Anyway, this is why Lance was absent when his daughter was going through all of this trauma. And for all of you, I do not blame him in any way, shape or form for his daughter’s death. I feel for him and wish his pain would subside, just a little. I just do not believe that he was an upstanding soldier or citizen as he is being protrayed. That is just an opinion.

Raye Dawn and Mike decided to get married in April of 2005. As I said, I have been reading as much as I can on this case and the new blogs about Kelsey, Raye and Mike are so ridiculous. They actually make me ill while reading them. Before Kelsey was murdered, Raye and Mike “loved each other deeply”. After, accusations and “disgust” from both parties ensued. There are emails from Mike to Kathie’s family and friends that make me want to spit in their faces. I do not buy that Kathie and crew were trying to “get information” from him on who murdered Kelsey. In my opinion, they were making a case against Raye Dawn, without any facts; only hearsay from the murderer himself. Who better to make up stories and cast blame on to someone else other than the true perpetrator? How blind can one be? Raye decided to “come clean” about Mike’s behaviors toward her and Kelsey AFTER Kelsey was dead. As did Mike.

You, readers, have to read the OSBI reports right after the murder and THEN read the emails and statements they made about one another AFTER the murder. It’s sickening. Personally, I don’t believe either of them. I do believe that Raye Dawn abused her child, but I do not believe she had anything to do with her death. Well, other than the fact that she married the pedophile that did. The Mike Supporters keep arguing that he didn’t have any prior arrests or incidents regarding pedophilia. Well, they all have to start somewhere don’t they. It takes one child to be the first child. How ludicrous for these people to say that his “clean past” makes the bold statement of he could never have done such a terrible thing to a child. Kelsey would vomit and cry when she was left with this man. She would cry and vomit when he would try to give her a bath. He sexually abused that child in my opinion. Classic tell-tale signs, vomiting and crying when being left alone with a pedophile. Mike’s own daughter claimed she saw him “hit Kelsey’s head against a brick wall”, that very well could be the “prior closed head injury” that the Mike Supporters are screaming about in the autopsy. When I say that Raye Dawn abused her child, I feel she hit her at times and probably left some bruises, but I believe it was at the beckoning of Michael Lee Porter. Whitney also stated that she saw “daddy take Kelsey into the bedroom, close the door and she heard spanking and crying from Kelsey.” She also stated, “daddy was always mean to Kelsey when no one was around.” This is his own daughter making these statements. The Mike Supporters say that there is no proof that Whitney ever said these things. That can be easily found to be true or not, put Whitney on the stand.the only thing is though, it’s been 5 years now. What has Whitney been told to say or what kind of memories has Whitney been told to remember? How truly sad for Kelsey, the man that sexually abused and murdered her will never be allowed to be convicted for the crime. Another sad fact I have found is that the Mike Supporters claim he did not have enough time (30 minutes) to commit the murder. How completely moronic for them to say this, the medical examiner stated Kelsey would have bled out within 3-6 minutes of the final blow. Kelsey was sleeping soundly when Raye Dawn went to pick Whitney up from school. Mike had PLENTY of time to sexually abuse and murder that child. Everyday I read about children being murdered by their parents or parent’s boyfriends/girlfriends and strangers. It doesn’t take much to brutally punch/kick a child in the abdomen and kill them. And, by all statements pertaining to Kelsey’s condition, she was frail, thin and sickly at that time. I’m sure it didn’t take too much to fatally hurt her.

Raye Dawn Smith deserves to be in prison for 27 years for enabling abuse. Michael Lee Porter deserves to be in prison for life for the sexual abuse and murder of Kelsey Shelton Smith Briggs. I hope all of you research this case and come up with your own opinions of what happened to this beautiful child. I suggest to only read the actual reports and not the soap opera drama blogs from people who are telling two sides of the story, embellishing the good and the bad and out right lying to make their stories fit with the reports and their agendas. It is of my opinion that Kathie Briggs hated Raye Dawn so much that she conspired with the true murderer to put Raye Dawn in prison. I do not believe that Kathie had anything to do with the abuse, at least I’m fairly certain she did not. Remember, Kelsey was taken out of her care because DHS/CPS could not name an abuser in the broken legs and it was their suggestion Kelsey was not to be returned to Kathie’s care.

Here is a website where you can find the actual documents of the case:
http://thetruth4kelsey.blogspot.com/2010/01/angel-named-kelsey.html

Beware, the OSBI report of Raye Dawn is not the actual report. It was transcribed by Kathie Briggs’ daughter (or friend, I can’t quite remember what was said) so it could very well be biased and things may have been taken out or added. From there, you will be able to find all the soap opera drama I was speaking about. I have to reiterate that you should read the actual reports, OSBI, OCCY, Visitation Reports, Autopsies and such before you read other’s opinions. There is so much animosity towards both families, it’s hard to discern the truth from them. Also keep in mind that Mike Porter took a plea bargain, he pled to enabling abuse. He will never have to register as a sex offender, he is in prison under an assumed name, no known prison name and because of the plea, he will never be convicted for the murder of this child. DA Richard Smothermon stated he believed Mike sexually abused and murdered her, he just didn’t have enough evidence to prove it. Mike pleaded because he knew if enough time went by, Smothermon WOULD find that evidence. So truly sad. Mike makes me ill!

Good luck all! Kelsey, I hope you are able to find peace in your death soon. I am sorry your true murderer will never be punished for the terrible things he did to you on that fateful day. I am also sorry that your mother did not protect you, nor seem to care enough about you to take you away from that monster. You are always in my thoughts and prayers. Rest In Peace little one.

Thank you for reading! And for all the drama queens out there regarding this case, this is MY personal opinion of what transpired. Do not threaten me with a law suit, I am allowed to voice my opinion.

Troy