WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man charged in the death of his 8-year-old daughter has a history of domestic violence-related cases and one child abuse conviction in Oklahoma, according to court records. He also was investigated — but not charged — in a child's death in Minneapolis.
Thomas Ross Gatewood, 51, has been charged with 11 counts, including first-degree murder, in the May 8 death of his daughter, Jeanetta Y. Gatewood. Court records show some of the counts involve a 9-year-old victim, The Wichita Eagle reported.
Gatewood and his wife also were investigated in the June 2006 death of an infant in Minneapolis but no charges were filed, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.
Wichita police have released few details about his daughter's death in May. Court records allege Gatewood tortured, beat and kicked the young girl.
He is charged with first-degree murder in the commission of a felony, four counts of aggravated kidnapping, three counts of abuse of a child, two counts of aggravated endangering of a child and one count of aggravated intimidation of a witness/victim.
Gatewood had a first appearance Wednesday and remains jailed in lieu of a $250,000 bond. It was not immediately clear if he has retained an attorney.
In 2006, a detective in Minneapolis investigated the Gatewoods after a child who died of meningitis was found to have bruises, skull fractures and rib injuries, according to a court affidavit. The child was not taken to the hospital.
John Holthusen, a Minneapolis homicide sergeant, said he asked the Hennepin County attorney to charge Gatewood and his wife with medical neglect.
The office declined to file charges because of insufficient evidence to achieve a conviction, including a lack of conclusive medical evidence that can be used to show what he knew about the child’s condition and when he knew it, Nicholas Kimball, a spokesman for the office, said in an email to The Associated Press Friday.
And in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 2009, officials removed a newborn baby and a 19-month-old girl from the Gatewoods' home after finding the older girl was unable to walk and talk and had bruises all over her body, according to a court affidavit.
That child was also not taken to the hospital.
Gatewood was sentenced to a year in jail, probation and court costs in the Bartlesville case, court records show. His wife was convicted of enabling child abuse by injury and sentenced to 180 days in jail, probation and court costs, records show.
Court documents also list seven criminal cases against Gatewood in the 1990s involving aggravated battery, aggravated assault and battery in Wichita or Riley counties.
He also has several cases of domestic violence, battery, sexual battery and unlawful touching in Wichita municipal courts. Most of the cases were dismissed but he was found guilty of two incidents of domestic violence battery.
