REMEMBERING CALEB

 

Caleb C. Blansett was a ten year old boy remembered by his family as a caring child who tried to look after the people he knew and loved.

 

Caleb was the son of Clint Blansett and Lindsey Nicole Blansett, who was also known as Nicole. He had a younger sister, Cadence.

 

Those who loved Caleb remembered far more than the circumstances of his death. His obituary described him simply but meaningfully as a great kid who did his best to care for those around him.

 

Caleb deserved the opportunity to grow up, discover who he wanted to become and continue being the caring boy his family remembered.

 

CALEB’S STORY

 

In the years before Caleb's death, the Kansas Department for Children and Families had received concerns involving his family. The agency reportedly became involved with the family as early as 2012 and received additional reports during 2014.

 

Caleb's parents were divorced, and his mother had primary custody of Caleb and his younger sister. His father, Clint, later said he had expressed concerns about whether the children were safe in their mother's care.

 

On May 1, 2014, DCF received a report concerning possible neglect. An investigator attempted to locate Caleb at school the following day, but he was absent. A social worker later went to the family's home and was reportedly told Caleb was in Wichita. That information was not confirmed.

 

Concerns continued.

 

Only days before Caleb's death, DCF received another report involving the family that was determined to require further investigation.

 

On December 14, 2014, Caleb went to sleep inside his home in Wellington, Kansas.

 

During the night, Lindsey entered her son's bedroom. According to her later statements to investigators, she brought an eleven pound rock and a knife with her. She struck Caleb in the head with the rock. When that did not kill him, she stabbed him repeatedly in the chest.

 

Caleb woke during the attack.

 

His younger sister was also present in the home.

 

Shortly before midnight, Lindsey called 911 and told the dispatcher that she had stabbed her son.

 

When police entered Caleb's bedroom, they found him lying on his bed with blood covering his chest. He had no pulse. Emergency medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

 

Investigators recovered the knife and the eleven pound rock from the bedroom.

 

During interviews with police, Lindsey described believing that people were coming to hurt her family and said she believed she was saving Caleb from future suffering. She also acknowledged that she knew what she had done was wrong immediately after stabbing him.

 

Caleb was ten years old.

 

SYSTEM FAILURES & WARNING SIGNS

 

Caleb's death raised serious questions about the response of the Kansas Department for Children and Families in the months and years preceding his murder.

 

DCF had reportedly received concerns involving the family beginning in 2012, followed by multiple reports during 2014.

 

Caleb's father later said he had warned that his children were not safe in their mother's care. Other concerns reportedly came from people outside the family, including a convenience store employee and a hospital worker who had observed troubling interactions involving Caleb and his mother.

 

In May 2014, DCF received a report of possible neglect. When an investigator attempted to locate Caleb at school the following day, he was not there. A later home visit did not result in the worker seeing Caleb, and the explanation that he was elsewhere was reportedly not independently confirmed.

 

Another report involving the family was received only days before Caleb was killed. DCF determined that additional investigation was warranted and assigned an investigator.

 

Caleb died before that investigation protected him.

 

After his death, reporting on Caleb's case became part of a broader examination of Kansas's child welfare system and its handling of reports involving children who later died.

 

The history surrounding Caleb's family did not predict the precise violence that would occur on December 14. But repeated concerns had placed the family on the child welfare system's radar long before Caleb was killed.

 

JUSTICE FOR CALEB

 

Lindsey Nicole Blansett was charged with first degree premeditated murder and aggravated assault.

 

Her mental condition became a significant issue during the criminal proceedings. Evidence presented at trial showed that she had been experiencing a psychotic episode around the time of Caleb's death, and her defense argued that mental disease or defect affected her criminal responsibility.

 

The jury nevertheless found that the evidence established first degree premeditated murder.

 

On October 27, 2015, Lindsey was convicted.

 

She was later sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.

 

Lindsey appealed her convictions to the Kansas Supreme Court, challenging several aspects of her trial, including the instructions concerning her mental disease or defect defense.

 

On March 8, 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed her convictions.

 

Lindsey Nicole Blansett

 

Relationship to Caleb: Mother

 

Conviction(s): First degree premeditated murder; Aggravated assault

 

Sentence: Life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 25 years

 

FOREVER REMEMBERED

 

Caleb Blansett should be remembered for more than the violence that ended his life.

 

He was a son, a brother and a ten year old boy whose family remembered him as someone who cared about the people around him.

 

The systems, court proceedings and questions that followed his death are important because they help tell the truth about what happened to Caleb. But none of them should become more important than Caleb himself.

 

He was here.

 

He was loved.

 

And he deserved the chance to grow up.

 

Abuse Angels remembers Caleb Blansett.

 

Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.