Man accused of killing daughter had been convicted of child abuse, investigated in infant death
The 51-year-old Wichita father charged this week in the killing of his 8-year-old daughter has multiple domestic violence-related cases in Wichita and an Oklahoma conviction of child abuse, according to court records.
Thomas Ross Gatewood and his wife also were investigated but not charged in the June 2006 death of an infant while living in Minneapolis, court records show.
In Wichita, Gatewood was arrested Tuesday in connection with the May 8 death of 8-year-old Jeanetta Y. Gatewood.
He has been charged with 11 counts: 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.
Court records show some of the charges, including the intimidation charge, are related to a 9-year-old victim.
Police have released few details about the death of Gatewood’s daughter: Police were called just before 7 p.m. A person reported the girl fell during a fight. She was pronounced dead at 7:36 p.m.
Court records available so far in the case say that between December 8 and May 8 Gatewood “did then and there unlawfully and knowingly torture, cruelly beat, cruelly strike or cruelly kick” the girl.
Gatewood had a first appearance Wednesday and remained jailed in lieu of a $250,000 bond.
A neighbor, who asked not to be named, said Gatewood told them that his daughters were bickering when the older daughter hit the younger one with a book, causing the younger to hit her head on a metal desk.
The neighbor said they had lived next to each other for years in the 600 block of North Oliver, but had only seen Gatewood regularly. The neighbor remembers seeing one of the daughters once.
Still, the neighbor said Gatewood had been friendly, always checking on them when something suspicious happened in the neighborhood.
Court records show Gatewood has had domestic violence-related allegations in at least three cities. Some ended in convictions; others did not.
In Minnesota, a Minneapolis homicide sergeant, John Holthusen, investigated the 2006 death of a child. The child had died of meningitis but had “bruises, skull fractures, and cracks or fractures of the ribs” found by the medical examiner, according to an affidavit in a 2009 child abuse case in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The child had not been taken to the hospital.
“Sad case down in Wichita,” Holthusen, now retired, said in a text message to The Eagle.
Holthusen also said in a text that he had asked the DA’s office to charge the Gatewood couple with medical neglect in the Minnesota case. The DA’s office declined.
On Friday, Hennepin County district attorney spokesperson Nicholas Kimball returned messages left earlier in the week. He said there was insufficient evidence to convict Gatewood or his wife.
“Insufficient evident to get a conviction, including a lack of conclusive medical evidence that could be used to show what he knew about the child’s condition and when he knew it,” he said.
The Gatewood family had moved around a lot. They had lived in Tennessee and Arkansas before landing in Oklahoma, the wife told police in Oklahoma, adding they moved after being evicted from their homes. The Eagle is not naming the wife because she has not been arrested in the Wichita case.
During his investigation, Holthusen followed the Gatewoods to Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
In early 2009 in Bartlesville, officials ended up taking two Gatewood children — a newborn boy and 19-month-old girl — after finding that the girl was unable to walk and talk.
Here is what the affidavit in that case says:
The girl was underweight at 16 pounds. Officials also later discovered bruises all over her body, consistent with the injuries of the child who died in 2006.
The toddler had bruises on her legs, back, buttocks and small red dots on the outside of both eyes, the affidavit says. The bruises looked to be different ages. One on the thigh looked like a handprint.
The toddler in the Oklahoma case also hadn’t been taken to the hospital for her injuries. Gatewood’s wife said the girl wasn’t taken to the hospital because she did not think the “injuries were that bad,” the affidavit says.
She also told police that doctors always suspect abuse but she protects her children, the affidavit says. Additionally, she feared them being taken away.
She told police she believed the injuries came from falling off the couch a lot, the affidavit says.
Thomas Ross Gatewood told police he knew he had bruised the toddler from spanking her. He also admitted to spanking too hard, the affidavit says.He told police that his wife knew he spanked the toddler but did not say anything to him.
About why they also hadn’t sought help for the toddler’s inability to walk and talk, Gatewood’s wife said she and her husband believed “she will develop in her own time and don’t want any assistance,” the affidavit says.
Thomas Ross 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.
The document also lists seven criminal cases against Thomas Ross Gatewood from the 1990s — all of them for aggravated battery, aggravated assault and battery and in either Wichita or Riley County.
In Wichita, municipal court records show Thomas Ross Gatewood has several cases for domestic violence battery, battery and sexual battery unlawful touching. Most of the cases have been dismissed, but he has been found guilty on two incidents of domestic violence battery.
Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker with The Eagle
This story was originally published June 29, 2023 at 2:52 PM.