Sunday, January 19, 2025
REPUBLIC COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) has secured the arrest of a man connected to the death of a Belleville infant. On Thursday, Jan. 2 at approximately 11 a.m., William McLaughlin, 23, of Belleville, was arrested on a KBI warrant for first-degree murder and felony abuse of a child. The charges are connected to the death of McLaughlin’s three-month-old daughter.
The KBI says that on Christmas Day, the Belleville Police Department contacted the KBI to investigate after an unresponsive three-month-old infant was transported from the Republic County hospital to an Omaha hospital. A pediatrician at the Omaha hospital indicated the child had no brain activity due to severe injuries she had sustained, and remained on life support. She had suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead in an Omaha hospital on Dec. 29.
Following the arrest, McLaughlin was booked into the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Jail in Nebraska. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrest. The investigation is ongoing.
