Six-month-old Ariah Phillips was brought to Kosair Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, in February 2011 with severe brain injuries and head trauma. Doctors determined the injuries were the result of a brutal beating; she did not recover. From the start investigators treated the case as a homicide and focused on Ariah’s mother, Whitney Phillips, and the mother’s boyfriend, James McElroy, who had brought the infant to the hospital.

During the initial home investigation on Vermont Avenue, police found large quantities of crack cocaine and drug scales. Other children from the residence were placed with Child Protective Services; CPS had previously been involved with the family. After a two-year investigation that reviewed medical records and autopsy findings, a grand jury in July 2013 indicted Whitney Phillips and James McElroy. Phillips was charged with complicity to commit murder and accused of a pattern of abuse against Ariah, while McElroy was charged with murder.

If anyone knew the family, the household circumstances, or saw signs of ongoing abuse, please share information with investigators.