Details from Oakmont girl's death resemble physical, psychological torture

Nothing happens along 10th Street in Oakmont.

“That’s why I live here. I have two children,” said resident Melissa Kwiatkowski. “This just makes you want to hold them a little closer.”

Kwiatkowski, 52, was expressing shock Thursday over the death of 3-year-old Bella Seachrist, who lived in the same block on 10th Street. Police have charged her father, Jose Salazar-Ortiz Sr., and stepmother, Laura Ramriez, in connection with the girl’s death. They’re accused of subjecting her to prolonged abuses that resemble physical and psychological torture.

Salazar-­Ortiz Sr., 29, and Ramriez, 27, were both charged Wednesday with homicide, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

Ramriez’s sister, Alexis Herrera, 20, also was charged. She turned herself in Thursday morning at Allegheny County Police headquarters after a warrant had been issued. She is charged with homicide, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

Herrera and Ramriez have additional charges of unlawful restraint and false imprisonment.

The girl was found unresponsive in the family home June 9, when first responders noted the girl appeared to be malnourished and was badly bruised. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.

In a five-page criminal complaint filed against the girl’s father and stepmother, police said she experienced multiple incidents of extreme physical abuse, including being punched and kicked, tied to a banister with shoelaces and locked in a closet. She was forced to stand in a corner with one leg raised for extended periods of time.

She was beaten with a wooden spoon and belt, according to the complaint.

Police stated that a sexual assault nurse examiner observed “extreme sexual abuse.” Details of the sexual abuse were not made in the complaint.

Several stunned neighbors said they never saw the girl outside. They described the street as friendly, welcoming and “kid-centric.” But it’s likely the girl was never outside to experience it.

“(Herrera) could not recall any time when (the girl) was outside the house other than one occasion in January,” police said. Herrera told police the girl “basically lived in the second-floor hallway and the closet, only being allowed in the living room if she was ‘good.’ ”

Salazar-Ortiz told police the girl was the result of an extramarital affair he had. After getting custody of the girl in August 2017 and keeping her for about a year, Salazar-Ortiz and Ramriez sent the girl to live with family in North Carolina. She returned to them around September 2019. Police said photographs taken around that time show the girl in apparent good health.

Salazar-Ortiz, who said he owns a drywall business and is often out of the home 15 hours a day, six days a week, told police he witnessed Ramriez abuse the girl on an “almost daily basis,” according to the complaint. He also told police he believed the girl had a condition that prohibited her from gaining weight and that caused hair loss, but they had never taken her to a doctor.

Herrera told police she witnessed Ramriez strike the girl and that Ramriez locked her in the closet and withheld food from her. Once, Herrera said, Ramriez punched the girl until she was unconscious, and Herrera helped Ramriez put the girl in the shower to wake her up.

Police said they found images and videos on cellphones belonging to Ramriez and Herrera that show the girl being bound and gagged, beaten and kicked. In one photo, she is shown to have a white cloth stuffed in her mouth and a blindfold is tied around her eyes.

One video appears to show one of the four boys living in the home kicking and hitting the girl as she lies on the floor and cries, according to the complaint.

Police said another video showed the girl positioned between a wall and bedframe with her hands extended into the air. About 18 minutes into the video, police describe her looking around to see if it is safe to lay down on the bed. After an hour and 16 minutes, she stands up to resume the position as someone enters the room, police said.

The weekend before the girl’s death, Herrera told police, Ramriez and Salazar-­Ortiz were out of town, leaving her responsible for the girl. She said the girl was “really tired” and “got off the potty only to sleep.”

Herrera told police she punched the girl in the face that weekend. Blood found on clothing at the scene was related to that incident.

The girl’s cause of death was “malnutrition and failure to thrive,” according to the criminal complaint. A doctor at the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said he found evidence of “profound hypoglycemia,” a condition caused by low blood sugar, and cachexia, a condition known as “wasting syndrome,” the complaint said.

Bail has been denied for Salazar-Ortiz, Ramriez and Herrera. It was not clear whether they had an attorney.