7-year old murdered by 39-year old man, who then killed himself
LUDINGTON, MI -- Investigators have released disturbing new details about a murder suicide where a man killed a 7-year old girl and then himself.
You may remember the April 28th incident in Ludington where police found a 7-year-old girl that they thought had been stabbed, but that's not what happened.
The Mason County Prosecuting Attorney explained what did happen to Chloey Stout.
Early in the morning on April 28th, police were called to this home in Ludington, where they found a 7 year old girl and a 39 year old man dead. Police have been investigating the cause of their deaths and now we have answers.
This was the scene back in April at 1082 Pineway in Ludington. A perimeter of police tape, a knife sticking out of the ground, and several police officers and investigators trying to piece together what happened. 7-year old Chloey Stoudt was dead, along with 39-year old James Belanger. The investigation is complete but the details are gruesome.
"Chloey Stoudt died by suffocation in her bedroom. Previous to that suffocation, she was sexually assaulted by James Vernon Belanger," said Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Spaniola.
Belanger then stabbed himself twice, the second time in the heart. Police say he was staying with Kelly Stoudt, his ex-girlfriend. Stoudt and her three children, including Chloey, were at home when everything happened. The two formerly lived together, separated, but remained social friends, and he was staying there because he recently had a break-up with another woman. Autopsy results show Belanger had significant blood alcohol content and active cocaine in his system when he died. But his positive drug results were not the only ones.
"A drug test of Kelly Stoudt a few hours after the 911 call showed the presence of a significant amount of cocaine metabolite," said Spaniola.
Police searched the apartment and found marijuana, empty cocaine baggies, a number of crack cocaine pipes, and other drug paraphernalia. Stoudt faces several charges, including aiding and abetting delivery of cocaine, and was arraigned on August 13th. She will not face murder charges. I tried talking to her as she left her home after the announcement...she had nothing to say.
Child abuse and neglect charges have been filed with the DHS against Kelly Stoudt. Her two other children are staying with her parents for the time being.
The prosecuting attorney says he hopes the charges will indicate that parents need to be held accountable for actions involving drug abuse.
Stoudt's preliminary examination is scheduled for August 25th.
