INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis father pleaded guilty but cited a mental illness in the murder of his 10-year-old son in July 2020.
Defendants of 40-year-old Anthony Dibiah filed a plea agreement Monday of "guilty but mentally ill" on the murder charge.
Defendants and prosecutors also agreed to a sentence of no more than 55 years.
The judge will make the final ruling in Dibiah's sentencing hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 1:30 p.m.
(NOTE: The video above is a previous report on Nakota Kelly's mother, Hayley, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Anthony Dibiah and the Indiana Department of Child Services.)
According to a probable cause affidavit, two people — a friend and a distant relative — called police and said Dibiah had called them saying he had killed his own son, 10-year-old Nakota Kelly. The first call to police came July 18, 2020, from the relative. Police went to Dibiah's apartment to do a welfare check around 10 p.m. No one answered after they knocked on the door, but officers heard someone inside, determined they didn't have reason for forced entry and left.
When police spoke to the initial caller — the distant relative — he said he and Diabiah had not spoken for nearly 20 years until they reconnected in June 2020. During that time, Dibiah told him he had been facing custody issues with Nakota. When Dibiah called to say he had killed Nakota, he said it was because Nakota's mother had given him a hard time and cost him a lot of money in court.
The second call came one day later from the friend. The friend said Dibiah asked to borrow a suitcase, and after the friend said yes, Dibiah called back and said he suffocated his son using a bag. The friend said Dibiah then told him he took the boy's body to the bathroom to make sure he was dead, dumped it, and had left the state.
When police got to Dibiah's apartment on Indy's west side around 11:45 a.m. on July 19, 2020, there was a crime scene, but neither Dibiah nor his son were there. Officers found blood and brain matter in the bathroom and blood in the bedroom of the apartment.
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Officers knew Dibiah was traveling west based on cellphone information. The Missouri State Highway Patrol found Dibiah in Missouri around 4 p.m. that same day. Nakota was not in the car with him, and troopers took him to the Macon County Jail in Macon, Missouri. IMPD detectives went to Missouri to follow up and found evidence leading them to believe the boy has died. They are still looking for his remains.
A case worker who was working with Nakota told police she had recently received a documented complaint from Nakota's mother, Hayley Kelly. It showed on July 14, 2020, Nakota told his mother, "Oh, I’m dead. Don’t expect me to come home," when the boy found out he'd be spending the weekend of July 19 with his dad. When Hayley asked what he meant, he said, "My dad is going to kill me."
Nakota said Dibiah was angry at him because he hung up the phone when he didn't want to talk to his dad.
Court documents state that a DCS representative contacted Hayley two days later about the claim, saying the weekend visitation was required because it was court-ordered. Thus, Hayley dropped Nakota off at Dibiah's apartment for a weekend visitation from July 17-19.
The mother sent another complaint to the social worker on the afternoon of July 19, 2020, saying Dibiah sent a text message to her that said, "Sometimes I hear voices. My son is in Heaven."
Hayley, who lives in Wabash, filed a wrongful death complaint against Dibiah, whom she shared custody of Nakota with since he was 6 years old. Hayley also filed a complaint against the Indiana Department of Child Services for negligence associated with the wrongful death.
"Nakota, at first, was excited to go with his dad and then all of a sudden, he wasn’t excited anymore, and I knew something was wrong," Hayley told 13News in October 2020, saying she called DCS six times in four years to report what Dakota was telling her.
"He was a good-hearted kid. He would protect anybody that was hurting," Hayley told 13News.
According to court documents, a representative with DCS at one point told Hayley that "the father does not have a criminal background, but you do."
"It's a brick laying on my chest, knowing that I can’t have my son to put him at ease," Hayley told 13News. "They (DCS) had the power and responsibility to keep children safe, and they didn’t do that with my son."
According to court documents, Hayley is seeking damages for loss of services, loss of love and companionship, funeral and burial expenses, costs associated with uninsured debts/expenses of the child, psychological and psychiatric counselling services, estate administration expenses and fees, attorney fees and for all other just and proper relief in the premises.