Oakmont family to stand trial in toddler's death

The last months of 3-year-old Bella Seachrist’s life were spent stationary, allegedly forced to sit for so long on her training potty that her feet became swollen and purple, detectives testified Friday at a preliminary hearing for the three adults charged with her homicide.

The girl’s father, Jose Salazar-Ortiz, his partner, Laura Ramriez, and her sister, Alexis Herrera, all face homicide charges for the alleged months of abuse and starvation that led up to the child’s June 9 death.

After a nearly eight-hour preliminary hearing, Judge Thomas Caulfield held over the most serious charges against all three. He dismissed charges of aggravated indecent assault of a child against each of the defendants, a charge of false imprisonment against Herrera and a charge of unlawful restraint against Ramriez.

Salazar-Ortiz and Ramriez have three children together. While Salazar-Ortiz is Bella’s biological father, Ramriez is not her biological mother. The couple and the four children all lived in a home on Tenth Street in Oakmont. Herrera began staying in the home in early January, according to investigators.

When the child wasn’t forced to sit for hours on her potty chair, she was allegedly often made to stand facing a wall with her arms in the air and head tilted up, not permitted to put her head down, according to testimony.

The glimpse into Bella’s daily life came mostly from testimony from Allegheny County Police Detective Scott Klobachar and Ramriez’s other sister, Ashanti Garcia, who was visiting the family from Charlotte in the weeks leading up to Bella’s death.

Garcia, 17, testified first during the hours-long preliminary hearing, stating that when she arrived in Oakmont in mid-May, she immediately noticed how skinny Bella was. She said the girl did not eat with the family. Once, she said, Garcia tried to give her M&Ms.

“Laura put (her) hands on me because I was taking Bella food,” Garcia told Judge Thomas Caulfield. “She choked me.”

Garcia alleged Ramriez would hit the girl often, slapping and punching her “wherever her hand landed.”

Blaine Jones, representing Salazar-Ortiz, asked Garcia if she ever saw his client hit Bella. She said no.

Justin Ketchel, representing Herrera, asked the same regarding his client. Garcia said no.

Aaron Sontz, representing Ramriez, asked Garcia whether she ever saw Bella’s father feed or bathe her, to which she said no.

Klobachar said his interview with Herrera lined up with the stories of abuse, testifying that Herrera said Ramriez encouraged her to join in the abuse of the child. Eventually, she allegedly told Klobachar, she did.

Herrera told Klobachar that Bella was not allowed to interact with the other three children, and she slept on a cot in the hallway while the others slept in beds in bedrooms, according to testimony.

The detective said there was an extra room that could potentially be turned into a bedroom. He testified it was full of “purses and makeup.”

Herrera was left in charge of Bella and the other children the weekend before the girl’s death while Ramriez and Salazar-Ortiz took a trip to Columbus, Ohio, according to testimony. Herrera was in charge of the children, and Garcia helped out.

Garcia testified that once the couple left, she brought Bella downstairs “to be a regular kid.” She said the child was lethargic and weak all weekend, unable to stay upright or eat. She said she never saw Herrera hit Bella that weekend, but Klobachar testified Herrera told him she punched the girl in the nose at one point because she was crying.

Ramriez and Salazar-Ortiz arrived home around 6 p.m. June 8, according to testimony, at which point they were briefed on Bella’s lethargy and weakness. Garcia said Ramriez tried to get the girl to stand up but she was too weak. She alleged Ramriez punched the girl in the face.

By the next afternoon, June 9, Bella was unresponsive, according to testimony from detectives and Garcia. She was taken to UPMC St. Margaret hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Autopsy photos showed a skinny, bony child with bruises on her body.

Klobachar testified that when he interviewed Salazar-Ortiz, he claimed he was unaware of the bruises until that day because he wasn’t the one who bathed or clothed Bella. He told Klobachar he’d been told she had a blood circulation issue that kept her from gaining weight, the detective testified.