Newborn Killed: Mom Was Featured on ‘I’m Pregnant And 55 Years Old’

NORTH REDINGTON BEACH, FL — Kathleen Steele had it all. A great job, a devoted husband, a beach house and even a sailboat. The only thing missing from her life was children.

That’s the storyline that appears on an IMDb.com listing for a reality television episode Steele, now 62, appeared on back in 2009. The episode, titled “I’m Pregnant And … 55 Years Old,” was aired on the USA network before the birth of Steele’s first son.

Fast-forward to 2016, and Steele’s reported storybook life has taken a nightmarish turn. The woman, whose husband Philip died of cancer in 2011 at age 66, went on to have two more children through artificial insemination, using her dead husband’s frozen sperm, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.

Steele’s third child, baby Kathleen, was born on July 26, 2016. She died Monday at the hands of the now 6-year-old brother Steele was pregnant with when she appeared on television, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced Thursday afternoon.

See also: 6-Year-Old Boy Killed 13-Day-Old Sister, Sheriff Says

The baby was allegedly left in a parked van with her 6-year-old and 3-year-old brothers, Gualtieri said. The van was left locked with the windows rolled up and the engine turned off outside a cellphone repair store in St. Petersburg, the sheriff’s office said.

What happened inside the van as Steele was inside the store is one of the worst cases Gualtieri said he’s witnessed in his career. The 6-year-old allegedly took baby Kathleen out of her car seat and proceeded to slam her head onto the van’s ceiling, bang her head on the floor and drop her numerous times, a media release from the sheriff’s office said.

Baby Kathleen ultimately suffered cardiac arrest following the assault, the sheriff’s office said. She was pronounced dead at St. Petersburg General Hospital, just 13 days after her birth.

During a Thursday press conference, Gualtieri described a series of encounters the Florida Department of Children and Families and Pinellas County child protection investigators had with Steele and her three children. Authorities were notified of possible abuse and neglect two times during baby Kathleen’s short life. Both times not enough evidence was found to pursue the case, Gualtieri said.

That changed Aug. 8 after Steele’s visit to the cellphone store. Authorities say her eldest son told Steele something was wrong with the baby when she returned to the van. Gualtieri said the boy informed his mother it was “serious.” Steele, Gualtieri said, ignored the statement, proceeded to complete her errands and then returned to her home in North Redington Beach.

It was inside the home, Steele discovered what was so “serious,” Gualtieri said.

“The kid’s face was a mess,” he said. “She’d been pummeled … at that point (she was) blue.”

Steele contacted a neighbor, a registered nurse. The neighbor began CPR and called 911.

It was too late, Gualtieri said.

The 6-year-old later described to detectives how he banged his baby sister around the van, the sheriff’s office said. Due to his age, he faces no charges.

Steele, however, was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on aggravated manslaughter charges. She remained there Friday morning in lieu of $100,000 bond, jail records indicate.

Her two surviving sons are now in state custody; placed in separate therapeutic foster homes, the sheriff’s office said.

The 6-year-old, Gualtieri said, "at the end of the day" is also a victim. "The accountability belongs to Kathleen Steele," he added.

An advisory hearing in Steele’s case is set for Friday afternoon, Pinellas County court records indicate.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Jail