Baby Chance’s Mom, Kristen Bury, Found Dead in Jail

SARASOTA, FL — The 33-year-old North Port woman who pleaded no contest in the death of her infant son last year was found dead at the Sarasota County Jail early Saturday morning.

According to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Bury, the mother of Chance Walsh, was found by jail staff just before 1 a.m. Sept. 10. Bury was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, but was pronounced dead.

“The initial investigation indicates a suicide,” the sheriff’s office wrote in an email to media. The medical examiner’s office is investigating the cause of death.

Bury’s no contest plea was part of a deal with prosecutors that resulted in a 25-year prison sentence. The deal also required her to testify against Chance’s father, Joseph Walsh, who is charged with first-degree murder.

See Also:

• Baby’s Chance’s Mom, Kristen Bury, Denied Reduced Sentence
• Baby Chance’s Mom Faces 25 Years In Prison
• Baby Chance’s Dad Charged With 1st Degree Murder

Bury was in Sarasota at the county jail instead of state prison Saturday morning because of court proceedings not related to the murder, the sheriff’s office said.

Chance’s lifeless body was found buried in a wooded area in North Port in October 2015 following a search kicked off by the sheriff’s office.

The search for Chance began on Oct. 4, 2015, when his maternal grandmother contacted the Sarasota sheriff’s office to say she had not seen the then 9-week-old baby since Sept. 9, the sheriff’s office said. She and the boy’s paternal grandmother made a number of attempts to check on the baby’s welfare.

Chance’s parents “are longtime drug users,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a media release about the search.

Family members heard from the couple that they had been involved in a car accident in South Carolina. The couple, the sheriff’s office said, provided conflicting reports about Chance in relation to the crash. They told some relatives that Chance was unharmed, but others heard the boy died, the sheriff’s office said. Still another relative was told the baby was given to a woman at a hotel in Georgia.

“Detectives confirmed with South Carolina law enforcement that there was no baby in the vehicle at the time of the crash and no room for a car seat,” the release said. “They also confirmed with Georgia law enforcement that the couple stayed at an Augusta hotel but there was no baby with them. A woman staying at the hotel reported that Kristen tried to sell baby clothes to her and that Kristen told her the baby had died three weeks earlier.”

Walsh and Bury were charged with child neglect by the sheriff’s office and were brought into custody in Jasper County, South Carolina.

After her return to Sarasota County, Bury, the sheriff’s office said, led deputies to the location where Chance’s body was found.

Further details about Bury’s death are not yet available. Joseph Walsh is scheduled to go on trial later this year.

Photos of Kristen Bury and Chance Walsh courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office