Meth Loving Mom’s New Predator Beats Baby To Death

Meth Loving Mom’s New Predator Beats Baby To Death

Serenity Jasline Sky Blankenship-Suley was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, on September 13th, 2016, to parents Kelsey Blankenship and Brandon Suley. Kelsey told Brandon that there was a chance he wasn’t the baby’s biological father, but Brandon stayed by her side throughout her pregnancy and was there the day Serenity was born. He wanted to be a father and was prepared to take care of the infant, so Kelsey listed his name on her birth certificate. Her godmother called Serenity a wonderful baby. She had blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and at the time of the story, was just learning to walk. She was almost always happy and had a bright personality. Her godmother said she was a beautiful, beautiful baby who was always laughing and always making everyone else smile. She loved Scooby-Doo, the monkey stuffy her grandmother made for her, and playing video games with her mom. Her favorite animal was an owl, and she learned to say “woo hoo.” Her mom loved hearing her make her owl sound and said, “It made my day when she did it.” For her first birthday, her family threw her a princess-themed party complete with pink and white cake. She was dressed in pink, from her dress and sash that said “I’m one” to her pink princess tiara and princess wand. She was surrounded by a family that adored her, including her parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, godparents, aunts, and uncles, all who came together to celebrate her special day. Her godmother said she was so happy that day.

Serenity’s mother, Kelsey, struggled in her late teens and early 20s. She suffered from depression and tried to remove herself from this Earth. As a result, to try to deal with her mental health issues, she self-medicated with drugs and subsequently ended up with a substance use problem. She moved quickly from one relationship to the next looking for acceptance and love, but once she had Serenity, Kelsey wanted to turn her life around. She said, “My past was not a good one. When I held my little Miss for the first time, I had a spiritual awakening. I knew a reason to stay clean and be the mother I needed to be for my daughter.”

Brandon’s family embraced Kelsey and the new baby girl. His mother, Melissa Suley, loved Kelsey and treated her like her own daughter. She said, “Kelsey is not my child, but I love her as if she was my child.” Having the support of family helped, but taking care of a newborn was difficult. Already prone to depression, Kelsey struggled even more postpartum. She and Brandon broke up, realizing they were better as friends than as romantic partners. Kelsey tried to power through it on her own but eventually realized that she needed help. Around this time, Kelsey gave Serenity to somebody else to take care of to keep her safe, but she was adamant that she could never give up custody of her child. Kelsey said, “From the beginning, I’ve had custody of my daughter. I’ve had my issues, and I’ve had people there to help me out so I can work on my issues.” When she felt stronger, Kelsey started taking care of Serenity again.

By February of 2017, Serenity’s godparents, Clarissa Mera and her husband Chicao, were watching the baby every Tuesday and Friday, allowing Kelsey time to work her program. Her godparents were as close as family and were a huge part of Kelsey’s support system. Clarissa said, “We were like her grandparents, we acted like her grandparents. I was the Muma and my husband was her Papa. We were so close to her all the time.” Kelsey appreciated their help, saying, “They have been there for everything, and without them, I would be lost.” She and Brandon were co-parenting. He and his family were also part of Kelsey’s support system. With their support, she was able to take care of her baby and stay sober through it all. She was drug tested once a week and never failed a test. Despite all her success though, she was still looking for love and acceptance, which made her vulnerable to a certain kind of man, and one of those men eventually found her.

Joshua Gurto was significantly older than Kelsey; he was 37 and Kelsey was only 22. He had children of his own, but they lived across the state line in Pennsylvania, and he didn’t see them much. He met Kelsey in July of 2017. She had gone out with friends and, as the sober one, volunteered to be the designated driver to get everyone home safe. When Kelsey brought her friend back to her place, Joshua tagged along. She said, “He came back to my place with my neighbor. We all sat down playing video games and talking, and it just started from there.” Not long after, Joshua moved into her apartment on Clark Street in Conneaut, which meant he had easy access to Kelsey and her baby. She thought she knew him. She said, “I knew some of his background,” but there was a lot he never told her. Kelsey was just too trusting, and not just with Joshua. She didn’t seem to understand the dangers of letting people have access to a baby, especially one too young to talk.

An example of her too-trusting behavior occurred in August when she went to a local festival in Conneaut and ran into Melinda Sailors. Melinda was the aunt of Andrew Payne, a man Kelsey had dated. Kelsey thought Andrew might be Serenity’s father and asked him to take a paternity test, but he hadn’t got the test done yet. Kelsey told Melinda she wanted Andrew to meet the baby in case she was his, so when she heard that Andrew might be there later, she handed the baby to Melinda and left to enjoy the festival. Melinda was appalled. She said, “She never met me before in my life, but she left that baby with me for 45 minutes unattended.” Everything was fine that day, but Kelsey didn’t seem to realize all the things that could have gone wrong.

On October 6, 2017, about a month after the princess party, Kelsey put the baby down for the night, took her evening medicine, and went to bed. When she was asleep, Joshua was alone and unsupervised. Around 5:15 the next morning, Kelsey ran out of her apartment carrying Serenity’s limp body, screaming, “Help my baby!” She shouted and banged on her neighbors’ doors begging for help. Someone called 911, and paramedics quickly responded. When they arrived, the baby was unconscious and was not breathing. She had obvious blunt force injuries to her head and torso. The report noted that Kelsey told them she found her unresponsive and suffering from cardiac arrest in her bedroom. She was rushed to the University Hospitals Conneaut Medical Center, but there was nothing doctors could do to help her. Serenity was gone and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Detectives questioned both Kelsey and Joshua, and they both said they were home at the apartment that night. Kelsey didn’t report witnessing or hearing any violence, and officers didn’t have enough evidence to arrest either of them, so they were both released from custody. Conneaut Detective Michael Sullivan said, “Joshua was very cooperative in the initial interview. We had no charges against him and released him.” Meanwhile, the doctors who saw her injuries in the emergency room were very concerned. They believed they saw evidence that the baby, who was only 13 months old, had been sexually assaulted. Acting on that information, and concerned that an offender and a child murderer was on the loose, police obtained a warrant for Joshua’s arrest, but he was nowhere to be found.

Officers checked with his family in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio but could find no trace of him. His picture was sent out to local media in both states and shared nationwide on television. Local police departments were also sent his picture and told to be on the lookout for Joshua. In the BOLO (Be On the Look Out), he was described as having brown hair, a brown goatee covering a misaligned jaw, a deformed right ear, and tattoos on his forearms. Joshua was sighted with a man driving a dark gray Ford F-150. Surveillance cameras captured an image of the two men and also captured the license plate number of the truck. Using that information, the police tracked down the man, who was from Buffalo, New York. Joshua had been hitchhiking, and the driver had picked him up without knowing who he was or that he was wanted by police. The driver was able to tell the police that he dropped Joshua off when the truck broke down about 20 miles north of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, helping to narrow the search down.

On October 16th, the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force offered a $5,000 reward for information about his whereabouts. Tips poured in, but most of them were dead ends. On October 26th, he was seen at a Sheetz convenience store on Mount Nebo Road, wearing a black ball cap and a camouflage jacket, and carrying a large backpack. Locals saw him walking in the area on foot. One woman named Amanda Moo saw him in the woods behind her house in Ohio Township, Pennsylvania, but didn’t realize he was wanted by police until her mother sent her a picture of him she had seen in the news. Because her German Shepherds had been barking at night, she thought he might have been camping nearby. Police used a drone to search the area from above. They found his campsite and a fire pit, but no sign of Joshua. Neighbors were uneasy, and additional security was arranged for at least one school in the area.

“Now, if they catch Joshua Gurto tonight, they’ll take him here to the Allegheny County Jail, but right now he’s still on the loose, and police are searching for him in the Ohio Township area. Now, we talked with one man who says he came face to face with the alleged killer, and he says he asked him for directions to the nearest gas station and the interstate. Drones and helicopters in the sky, law enforcement on the ground, all looking for this man, Joshua Gurto. He’s wanted in the sexual assault and homicide of 13-month-old Serenity Suley in Conneaut, Ohio.”

“All my doors are locked right now, and uh, they’re going to stay locked all day and into the night.”

“Several law enforcement agencies have been trying to track him down. Brian O’Neal says he spotted him.”

“Yeah, yesterday afternoon I was down over the hill, down at the end of the driveway, uh, digging a ditch for a new gas line, and um, I was actually in the hole, and I just kind of turned to my left, and there was a guy only about 5 or 6 feet away from me.”

“He says that man asked him for directions to the nearest gas station.”

“He had uh, disheveled clothes on and a big backpack, and he looked like he had been camping or hiking or something like that.”

“O’Neal says he didn’t realize it at the time, but he now believes that was Gurto. He says this happened before the sighting at Sheetz. These security cam photos possibly show Gurto inside of the Sheetz off Mount Nebo Road around 4:30 yesterday. In Ohio Township, people also say they spotted a campsite near Ohio Township Community Park and Nature Center, and they alerted police.”

“And now I see this tent in the woods that’s not ours.”

“Police don’t know if this was the place where Gurto may have been camping out, but they looked into it, then moved on to other leads. Police are offering a $5,000 reward for anyone who has information leading to Gurto’s arrest.”

On October 27th, he was seen at another Sheetz convenience store about 7 miles away, this time on Nicholson Road in Franklin Park, Pennsylvania. Patrolman Kevin Letician spent a few hours that evening looking for Joshua, but had moved on to do his regular checks of businesses in that area. At 1:40 in the morning, Patrolman Letician saw him walk right by his patrol car and recognized him right away from the BOLO. He called for backup, but when Joshua looked at him and seemed to realize he had been spotted, the patrolman decided he needed to arrest him right away. He said Joshua gave up easily and that there was no fighting him. After 3 weeks on the run, Joshua was finally taken into custody. He was carrying a tent, and officers found a knife and maps of Pennsylvania and New Jersey in his backpack. He was held in Allegheny County Jail for a few days until he was extradited back to Ohio.

Meanwhile, Andrew Payne finally submitted his DNA to be tested and discovered he was Serenity’s biological father. He told reporters, “I just found out she was mine 3 days ago, and I’m not going to have a life with her now.” When asked how he felt about Joshua, he said, “I hope that he gets what he deserves. There is nothing else in this world that I want but justice for Serenity.”

Kelsey and Brandon held a press conference to talk about their grief and address the new information about the baby’s paternity. Despite the results of the paternity test, Brandon and his family still considered the baby a treasured member of their family. At the press conference, Kelsey also explained the sense of relief she felt when Joshua was captured. She said she was jumping for joy when she heard the news. She was happy because he wasn’t out there, he couldn’t harm anyone else, and “finally my daughter would receive her justice which she needs.” She also told reporters that Serenity was now her guardian angel and that she did not want to disgrace her memory by using drugs again.

“The Blankenship and Suley family is staying united as we mourn the loss of Serenity, the gorgeous princess that she was. Yes, I am not her biological father, but being blood doesn’t make you a father. The definition of a father is being there with unconditional love. I was next to Kelsey throughout every part of Serenity’s joyful life. I watched her take her first breath in this frightening world. There were a few of us that knew that Serenity could have been one of ours. Even with that being known, I made it my duty to be there regardless, till she was ripped from us by this cruel world, by this evil monster.”

“My past was not a very good one, but when I held my little Miss in my arms for the first time, I gained a spiritual awakening and knew a reason to stay clean and to be the mother I needed to be for my daughter. I just want to thank the first responders, the officers, the community, and everyone that has helped make Joshua’s world small. The media was fantastic with helping get his picture out. I’m so heartbroken over the whole situation. I’ll never get to see my baby girl again. I’ll never get to see her go to school for the first time, or lose her tooth, or even get to run around with her and chase her. I never get to do any of those fun activities. This was all taken from me and I’ll never get this back. I’m not perfect by no means; I have made my mistakes and I have owned up to them all. As for the biological father, I’m sorry that he’ll never get to know her, but he has known from the beginning that she could be his. The Suley family has been there from the beginning, knowing there was a chance that she wasn’t theirs. And thank God for Serenity’s godparents, they have been there for everything, and without them I would be lost.”

“Have you seen Facebook comments and posts and stuff like that?” “Yes.” “And uh, how do they strike you?” “There’s some that are devastating to me, because I’ve loved my daughter from the beginning, and from the beginning I’ve had custody of my daughter. I’ve had my issues, and I’ve had people there to help me out so I can work on my issues. And then there’s some that are very sweet, sweet and caring, and that are sincerely there for me.”

“Are you still attending drug court?” “Yes.” “So that means that you are randomly drug tested on a…” “Yes.” “…pretty constant basis?” “Yes, I have been drug tested pretty much almost every day besides a couple days.” “And so you’re still participating in that?” “Yes, I’ll be graduating in November.”

“What can you say to people who say you should have heard it, or you know, heard something going on or anything like that? Can you address that?” “I do not like to talk about that at this moment because of the case. I do not want to ruin our chances at getting as much prosecution that we can get for my daughter to have the justice.”

“How did you meet, uh, Gurto?” “I was someone’s DD, and he came back to my place with my neighbor, and we all sat down playing video games and talking, and it just started from there.”

“So you weren’t aware of his background then?” “I knew some of his background, but I didn’t know that he had this past.”

“Why aren’t you two together? I mean, I understand being together as far as being there for Serenity.” “We just found out it’s best for us to be friends, to be there for her. Being apart is just better for us. It’s more of a healthy relationship that way.”

“So what’s next for you? What do you do next? Move ahead or move forward?” “Well right now, I’m trying to get housing, and I’m trying to… I’ve been going to my grief counseling and to my counselors. Um, I start a trauma class in November. To finish out, it’ll probably be January, I believe.”

“What were your feelings when he was finally captured?” “I was enthusiastic. I was jumping for joy at 2:00 in the morning when I received the phone call. I ran upstairs, I woke up my cousin and her best friend, and I almost woke up the kids. I was so excited because there was a sense of relief that I felt, finally, that he wasn’t out there, that he couldn’t harm anyone else, and that finally my daughter would receive her justice that she needs.”

“Now will you be following, once the proceedings start and arraignments, will you be following that or attending that?” “Yes, absolutely.” “How about you, Brandon?” “I’ll more than likely be there.”

“What was your reaction when you heard that they finally caught him?” “I was happy, but there was still a part of me that wasn’t still satisfied. Just after that, I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“Even though that I’m in the stage where I am very unbelieving in my higher power right now, there’s still… He’s out there helping me to stay clean, to keep going to meetings, to keep being strong that I need to be to get through all this. I’m doing it. First I need… yeah, Serenity’s my guardian angel right now.”

The extended family was devastated. Her grandmother told reporters, “We can hardly breathe right now, but we will have to go on without her.” Her great-aunt, Bobby Lee Blankenship, said that she’d been looking forward to spending Halloween with Serenity. She said, “She was going to be a teddy bear for Halloween.” Now there will be no trick-or-treating, no celebrating Christmas, or watching Serenity at dance recitals.

On November 7th, a secret grand jury indicted Joshua. At his arraignment on November 17th, Serenity’s family attended and wore pink t-shirts in her memory. He was charged with three counts of murder, two counts of aggravated murder, one count of sexual assault (SA), one count of domestic violence (DV), and one count of felonious assault. The aggravated murder charges came with the possibility of a death sentence. Serenity’s great-grandfather, Randy Butts, told reporters, “It’s just devastating to me. I want him to go for the death penalty. I want him dead. I’m sorry, that’s just the way I feel about him.”

Joshua pled not guilty, and his bond was set for $1 million. He remained at the Ashtabula County Jail until his trial. That trial would be a long, long time coming. The next 5 years would be a nightmare for Serenity’s family as the County Prosecutor’s Office changed hands several times, a judge recused herself, and the charges against Joshua were lessened from the death penalty to involuntary manslaughter. And the worldwide events of 2020 slowed the court systems down to a crawl. Though the details of the case had been plastered all over the media when Joshua was on the loose and a possible risk to the public at large, once he was arrested, that all changed. Many of the details became closely guarded secrets, and several of the hearings were sealed from public view. Serenity’s grandmother, Melissa, attended all of the hearings, but she was not allowed to speak publicly about many details.

On October 17th, 2018, a secret grand jury indicted Kelsey on seven charges: two counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, three counts of endangering children, and one count of domestic violence. Kelsey’s attorney asked the judge to set bail at $50,000, claiming she wasn’t a flight risk. She said Kelsey had maintained her sobriety even while struggling with her grief and loss and would have run already if she was a flight risk. The prosecutor argued that she didn’t run because she didn’t know she was going to be charged, saying, “Now that she’s arrested and charged, we do consider her a flight risk.” The judge sided with the prosecutor and set her bail at $250,000. When Kelsey was indicted, the prosecutor also dropped the death penalty specification from Joshua’s charges, but made no other changes.

While running Joshua’s DNA to investigate Serenity’s case, investigators got a match to an unsolved 2004 sexual assault and burglary case. In that case, a woman had come home a little bit after midnight after her shift as a bartender. She fell asleep watching TV in her bedroom, woke briefly when she thought she heard a noise, but she fell back asleep. She woke again later; an intruder was choking her with one hand and holding a hammer to her head with his other. She begged him to stop, but he choked her until she passed out. He also hit her on the head with a hammer, cutting her scalp. When she came to, she was stuffed beneath her bed and her underwear were missing. The intruder was still there when she crawled out from under the bed, and he threatened to kill her. She fought back, pried the hammer out of his hand, and squeezed his privates so hard that he ran away. She called 911 and officers responded. They found a pair of men’s underwear outside her home. She was taken to the hospital, and during her examination, doctors found evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, including fluids containing DNA. This DNA profile was entered into a database, and 16 years later, it matched the DNA sample investigators had taken from Joshua. In December of 2020, he was indicted on one count of sexual assault, one count of felonious assault, and two counts of aggravated burglary.

By this time, the two previous prosecutors were no longer in office; Prosecutor Colleen O’Toole had taken over. In March of 2021, Kelsey pled guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of endangering children. At her plea hearing, evidence was presented that Kelsey had told medical personnel that she wished to cause physical harm to her child about 6 months before she started dating Joshua. The Ohio Child Service Board became involved on January 27th, 2017, and arranged for Serenity to live elsewhere for some time before returning her to Kelsey. Though the exact details haven’t been released, Prosecutor O’Toole publicly called Kelsey mentally ill and said that Serenity was left in the care of “two people who were not competent to care for themselves, let alone have a child of this tender age.”

Her family noted that Kelsey said those things when she was struggling with postpartum depression and was asking for help because she was afraid that she would hurt her baby. They thought asking for help was the right thing to do, which it is, and that the prosecutor unfairly used it against her. Prosecutor O’Toole also decided she wouldn’t arrange for Kelsey to testify against Joshua because, in her words, “The state doesn’t know that they did not act in concert against Serenity, and nobody can say that besides Miss Blankenship and Mr. Gurto, and they haven’t.” Despite her plea, Kelsey didn’t say she directly hurt her daughter, but instead claimed that she failed her daughter by allowing a wolf in sheep’s clothing into their lives. She said, “I brought someone into my daughter’s life, and I didn’t know he would ever hurt or harm her, and he hurt my daughter.” She admitted she created a substantial risk to the health or safety of her child by violating a duty of care, protection, or support that resulted in serious physical harm to the child. As part of her plea, she was sentenced to six years in prison and an additional 6 months on parole.

In October of 2021, the prosecutor presented a global resolution plea agreement to Judge Marianne Sazan, which covered both Serenity’s murder and the 2004 sexual assault and burglary. Under the agreement, which was sealed from the public, Joshua would take an Alford plea, meaning he would plead guilty without admitting he did anything wrong. His charges for Serenity’s death were reduced to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of felonious assault. He would be sentenced to six years for her death, and an additional 10 years for the sexual assault, for a total of 16 years for both crimes. He got more years for the sexual assault in 2004 than he did for killing a young child. Judge Sazan asked if the victims were happy with the plea agreement, and Prosecutor O’Toole responded, and I quote, “Although no one is happy, obviously, with this plea agreement, based on the evidence that has come forward, they are all in agreement that this is acceptable.” The prosecutor also mentioned that the victim of the 2004 case expressed fear and distress at reliving experiences long ago in this cold case.

Judge Sazan wanted to talk to the other victims, in particular, Serenity’s family members that attended the hearing. Prosecutor O’Toole didn’t want the judge to speak with them and asked her to move on, but the judge insisted on doing so. Though the judge made it clear that the victims didn’t get to decide if the plea would be accepted, she thought they should be allowed to voice their concerns. Their exact identities were not revealed in official documents, but one of Serenity’s family members told the judge, “We don’t know anything as to what happened, and that’s what our main concern is, is trying to figure out who is guilty, who is not, and what happened so we can understand that.” Another told her, “We felt that if it went to trial that there’s the possibility that he could end up with more time, or if it’s not a good case and not presented well enough, he could walk. Well, that’s how we had to decide, and we’re willing to go to trial. First of all, we want the truth, and we feel if there is a trial, we are going to get the truth.”

Prosecutor O’Toole also decided some family members didn’t qualify as victims. According to grandmother Melissa, she was told by the prosecutor that she was not part of Serenity’s real family. The prosecution characterized the case as a “he said, she said” type of situation because, and I’m quoting the Chief Assistant Prosecutor here, “Nobody else was in the room, it’s not video recorded. It was one of these whodunits.” Prosecutors also revealed some disturbing information to the court, in particular, that the state had no evidence supporting the sexual assault charge. The judge was surprised that, knowing they had no evidence, the state still hadn’t dismissed those charges. The judge said that just because it was a difficult case didn’t mean the state couldn’t prove serious crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, and the difficulty of the case meant it should go before a jury. She said, “Justice rests with the trier of fact, in this case a jury of 12 citizens,” and rejected the plea agreement.

Prosecutor O’Toole filed an affidavit with the state Supreme Court asking to have Judge Sazan removed. She called the hearing “unhinged” and described the judge’s conduct as “unprecedented.” Judge Sazan recused herself, as did the other Ashtabula County judges. Visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove replaced her. Serenity’s family filed to have the records of the secret hearings unsealed and were ultimately successful; without their lawsuit, the public still would not know what happened at the first plea hearing. After the hearing, great-aunt Bobby Lee wrote a letter to the editor that was printed in the Ashtabula Star Beacon. In it, she condemned the actions of Prosecutor Colleen O’Toole and revealed a few details that hadn’t been shared with the public. She wrote:

“I am the great-aunt of the one-year-old baby Serenity who was murdered in Conneaut, Ohio, on October 7th, 2017. Serenity was found in her home dead, with her skull caved in. Serenity’s mother’s boyfriend, Joshua Gurto, fled the city, fled the state, and was ultimately taken into custody by authorities in Pennsylvania. Mr. Gurto has been sitting in the Ashtabula County Jail awaiting trial for the past 4 years. Serenity’s family is appalled and horrified by the way this case has been handled by our new County Prosecutor. Currently, Prosecutor Colleen O’Toole is attempting to force a plea deal down the throats of both Serenity’s family and the public, which would result in Mr. Gurto receiving 18 years in prison. This is a travesty if allowed to occur. Serenity’s head was crushed, and there was enough direct and circumstantial evidence to convict Mr. Gurto of this cold and calculated act. We were assured by the office of the Ashtabula County Prosecuting Attorney in 2018 that Mr. Gurto would never see the light of day. Nicholas Iarocci, then the prosecutor, assured Serenity’s family that there was enough evidence to put this monster behind bars for the rest of his life. Now our new ‘Law and Order’ prosecutor, Colleen O’Toole, has told us that the family should accept a plea deal because she didn’t believe that a jury would convict Mr. Gurto. It seems to me that Ms. O’Toole is lacking in the courtroom experience and confidence necessary to effectively perform her job. If the court approves Ms. O’Toole’s plea deal with Mr. Gurto, what is life worth? My beautiful niece Serenity only lived one year. She never had a chance to start life, go to school, to grow up, or to do any of the normal things children do. Mr. Gurto, on the other hand, if O’Toole gets her way, will have the opportunity to start life over again in 18 years. How can anyone with a conscience or an ounce of humanity allow this to happen?”

The grief and pain of the family was evident in her letter. Though she wouldn’t know it until some days later, the judge had rejected the plea deal, but was then forced off the case by Prosecutor O’Toole. Instead of working with the victims, the new prosecutors seemed to want to work against them. Note that in her letter, Bobby Lee wrote that the plea deal was for 18 years, while the unsealed document listed it as only 16 years. Those documents would not have been available to her at the time, and she may have been told something different. It wouldn’t have been surprising if the prosecutor rounded up when talking to the family.

In July of 2022, Prosecutor O’Toole dismissed six of Joshua’s eight charges and reduced the remaining murder charges to involuntary manslaughter. She also released a public statement about the case in which she repeatedly called Serenity “this child” instead of using her name. Serenity’s family spoke out against the reduction and organized a protest around it. In August, they lined the streets outside of the prosecutor’s office and chanted, “Step up or step down,” and “Say her name,” as cars drove by and honked in support.

“Serenity’s life matters. For Jean Carlo and all of those who loved Serenity Suley, that’s the motive that drove them to the Ashtabula County Courthouse for protests. The family is outraged over Ashtabula County District Attorney Colleen O’Toole’s decision to amend charges for Joshua Gurto, who’s accused of raping and murdering the 13-month-old in 2017. Gurto initially faced over nine charges related to the crime, including two counts of aggravated murder, one count of rape, and three counts of murder. In July, O’Toole’s office dismissed the aggravated murder charges, the rape charge, and two of the murder charges, among others.”

“I’m sorry, my family and I want it to be the charges that he started with, and to go to court, to go to trial. We want to see him in trial.”

“O’Toole responded to the protest in a statement Friday afternoon, saying Gurto’s case has been reset 22 times, and that, quote, ‘The charges as amended conform to the evidence and what can be proven beyond reasonable doubt.’ Investigators say Suley died from blunt force trauma to the head. Her mother, Kelsey Blankenship, was also charged and sentenced to six years in prison for her role in Suley’s death. Gurto led federal and local police on a national manhunt after she was killed.”

“Our problem is, we have been doing this for 5 years, and it turned into a mess, and it’s just gone on and on and on, and it’s just breaking our hearts.”

Great-aunt Bobby Lee hoped the community support would help sway the prosecutor. She said, “It’s not just our family, the whole community is upset. It gives us hope that the community does stand with us. It gives us hope that maybe she will see the error of her ways, see what she’s doing. She’s not only upsetting us, she’s upsetting the whole community. It could have been anybody’s baby.” But Prosecutor O’Toole was unmoved. She said, “Although I have deep respect for their right to protest and what they’re saying, it does not change our course.” She split the

The community is upset. It gives us hope that the community does stand with us. It gives us hope that maybe she will see the error of her ways, see what she’s doing. She’s not only upsetting us, she’s upsetting the whole community. It could have been anybody’s baby.” But Prosecutor O’Toole was unmoved. She said, “Although I have deep respect for their right to protest and what they’re saying, it does not change our course.” She split the two cases and negotiated a new plea deal in the 2004 case.

The family’s protest against the first plea deal wasn’t entirely in vain, however; Joshua didn’t get to make an Alford plea this time. On March 16th, 2022, he pled guilty to two counts of aggravated burglary, one count of SA, and one count of assault. Judge Cosgrove sentenced him to 28 years—18 more than the 10 he would have gotten for the 2004 charges in the first plea deal. He filed an appeal in May, but his sentence was upheld.

Finally, all that was left was Serenity’s case. Though the family still wanted a trial, the prosecutor didn’t want to take the risk. She told reporters, “A plea agreement allows the defendant to be held accountable for the crimes and adds certainty to the outcome. There is no certainty in the outcome of a trial and no finality in the appeals process.” On October 3rd, 2022, Joshua pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter. All other charges, including the SA, were dropped.

The Coroner’s official report, completed in June of 2018, concluded that Serenity had not been SA’d, but that information was not released to the public until years later. According to Prosecutor O’Toole, what ER doctors thought was evidence of an SA was actually a severe bacterial infection. The baby had been treated for the same condition at least once before; some sources describe the condition as a severe diaper rash.

Judge Cosgrove confirmed this information during the sentencing portion of the plea hearing. She said, “The initial charge was based on the misinformation that the prosecution received that there was an SA involved, which there is absolutely not one shred of evidence that an SA of this child was ever perpetrated by anyone. No scene, no DNA, no penetration, nothing.” The judge said that one month before her death, she had been treated for another terrible rash and infection in her pelvic area.

Further investigation also revealed additional injuries that were inflicted before the night of her death. The judge said, “It has come to light through medical records that prior to Mr. Gurto coming onto the scene, this child had suffered physical injuries that were detectable on x-rays.” She said these injuries occurred before Mr. Gurto got associated with Miss Blankenship. Though no DNA was found in her private areas, male DNA was found elsewhere on Serenity, but according to Prosecutor O’Toole, that DNA belonged to an unidentified male and only weakened her case against Joshua, allegedly.

Several members of Serenity’s family read impact statements at the hearing. Brandon called Joshua a coward and a monster. He said: “To a child, a monster is anything that appears scary. As a parent, your duty is to protect that child. The monster my princess had to face was one a parent could never be prepared to protect her from. A parent should not be burying their child. You taking my daughter from me robbed her of being able to enjoy this scary world. She won’t be able to experience learning to ride a bike for the first time. She won’t be able to learn how to get back up, dust herself off, and try it again. She won’t find out what anxiety of the first day of school feels like and the happiness of school being done for the summer. You ripped all the joy out of our lives. You stole all of our firsts from us. Now we won’t know what her voice will sound like, her learning full sentences. You took our ability to hear her laugh and cry, to see her smile. You are the monster. You stole all of this man’s life when you made your intentional choice to be the executioner. I’ll never be able to see the nervousness when she introduces me to her first boyfriend. I’ll never be able to put her heart back together after someone she loves breaks it. You took so much from me and our family. You are a monster that should suffer in his own mind knowing what you did, but you won’t suffer as much as my princess has. To be exact, she won’t have any of these firsts: talking, running, playing with other children, going to school for the first time, making friends. She won’t be able to experience becoming a woman. She won’t be able to decide what music she likes or her favorite color. She won’t be able to ask me to teach her how to drive, to get her permit, and then her license. She can’t run to me to comfort her when she needs it. You took her before she could see any part of the world. You ended her life before it even started. I’ll never be able to hear her say the words, ‘I love you, Daddy.’ You took things that can never be replaced. You are a coward to hurt a child. You are a killer of my daughter’s hopes and dreams, as well as a killer of the love she would have been able to give us. You are keeping any information of what happened on the day of October 7, 2017, to yourself and hiding behind the silence.”

Grandmother Melissa asked Joshua to turn around. She said, “And I would like this gentleman to turn around and look and watch… he did this. This is why we’re here. He should see the emotions of what he’s done to the families, that he destroyed their lives. He should be forced to see us and the emotions instead of standing forward with his back towards us like it meant nothing. Where is the justice in you standing there with your back against us? Where’s that justice? It’s been 5 years since—” “Hold on,” the judge interjected. “He should look at us. He should be looking at the victims,” family members pleaded. “Just hold on, all right,” the judge said. “I’d like him to turn around, but I want to keep security here.” “Please turn around,” Melissa continued. “You did this. You put us all here. Turn around and look at us, face what you did to our family.” “All right, all right. You’re not going to turn around, is that what you said?” the judge asked Joshua. “It’s been 5 years since the bone-chilling phone call to hurry to the hospital, the nightmare began,” Melissa pressed on. “All right, it doesn’t really matter if he turns around or not, he hears you,” the judge noted. “I don’t know if he understands what I’m saying. I’m reading my letter,” Melissa replied. “Go ahead,” the judge allowed.

“The nightmare began and it dragged out for five years,” Melissa read. “For five years we’ve been doing this. I have nieces, nephews, friends who have children Serenity’s age, and each time they share pictures or go on adventures, I think to myself that Serenity should be and would be doing these things if she was here. She would have started kindergarten this year. So you ask me about justice? How can any human being understand and justify taking the life of a baby? A child that was just learning to walk, let alone how to say full sentences. She was robbed of so much, but most of all, she was robbed of life, and you still get to live. You still get to live. I can’t for the life of me understand why or what or how any person can just kill a baby. We probably will never know what really happened. The only thing I know is the broken heart that you left behind. I know the actions that were made October 7th, 2017, early in the morning in that apartment, have mentally and emotionally destroyed my entire being. Our entire family is destroyed. Reliving this nightmare over and over, I can’t remember a night I’ve slept well without waking up and crying because all I want to do is hold that sweet angel. I just want to protect her. You took her from so many—so many that spent their day loving her, teaching her, and bringing her joy. So for the last 5 years, coming to each hearing held, reliving the nightmare over and over again, one thing is for certain: I will never be the same person I was before your actions that early morning. I honestly believe you destroyed and changed the lives of so many. You are nothing more than a pure evil monster. I pray with all of my being your children never endure what our family has had to endure, what that baby endured. I hope your children never have to endure, I hope their children never have to endure what you guys endured in that apartment that morning that took the life of this baby. Do you believe the amount of time you’re being given is enough? Do you believe that’s enough for that? If it was your child, would that be enough? No, it sure wouldn’t be. But I do believe in karma. Karma will find you, and you will pay the higher price. And the beauty of karma is you never know when she will find you, but she will, and that’s for certain. You don’t deserve to see the light of day. You don’t deserve that. You don’t. Thank you.”

In her impact statement, great-aunt Bobby Lee said she went to school with Joshua. “Take your time,” the judge told her. “I actually know Mr. Gurto. I went to school with Mr. Gurto, and I never in my life could imagine that one day we would be standing in this courtroom talking about what you would take from our family—not just our family, but from friends and the community and just everybody. That baby had the biggest smile, was always laughing, always happy, and we’re not going to see that again. We’re not going to see her go to kindergarten. We’re not going to see her take her first driver’s ed. We’re not going to get to see her go to prom. We’re not going to get to see her do anything, and we have no answers. Every time we have to step in this courtroom, it rips it open again, and all we want to know is why. That is our biggest question: why? How could anybody do this to a child? And again, we’ll never know the answer because you don’t say anything. You won’t even look at the family of the little girl that you took away from us.”

After the family spoke, Judge Cosgrove handed down her sentence. Since Kelsey also pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter, the judge started with a matching baseline of six years. She said Joshua deserved a higher sentence because he had a criminal record and he fled after the crime. She also acknowledged that no sentence she handed out would truly be fair. She said, “The court realizes this: there is no amount of time that I can give Mr. Gurto that will make up for the loss of this precious child, Serenity. Nothing. Nothing.” Judge Cosgrove sentenced him to an additional eight years to be served in addition to the 28 years, for a total of 36 years. She said, “36 years. You’re going to be in your 70s if you live that long, and all I can say is your parole officer hasn’t even been born yet.”

Joshua is currently serving his time at the Mansfield Correctional Institution in Mansfield, Ohio. His earliest release date is May 11th, 2052. Kelsey served her time at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. She was released on parole on March 26, 2024, and her parole is scheduled to end on September 15th, 2024.

Serenity’s family asked for donations to be made in her name to the Halo Christmas program administered through Catholic Charities, because that program provided presents for her first Christmas. A vigil for Serenity was held on October 14th at Conneaut Township Park. Jean Carlo, Serenity’s great-grandma, told reporters, “Our hearts are broken. We’ve gone through every emotion possible.” Hundreds attended. They struggled against the wind to light candles in tall glass jars, sang “Amazing Grace,” and prayed together. They also recited the Serenity Prayer, chanting: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Pastor Jan Walsh ended the prayer service, saying, “Serenity is looking down on us right now with a big smile because she is safe in the arms of Jesus. We lift Serenity up to you, knowing that when she left, she took a huge piece of our heart with her, but knowing she also left a piece of her heart with each and every one of us whose lives she touched.”

Serenity’s funeral was held on October 16th at the Thompson-Smith-Nesbitt Funeral Home. She was buried at Greenlawn Memory Gardens.

Though they don’t think they will ever know what really happened that day, Serenity’s family thought Kelsey’s biggest crime was making a mistake that is all too common with young people: she trusted someone she shouldn’t have and let him have access to her daughter. In an interview, great-aunt Bobby Lee said, “She believed in somebody she didn’t know enough about yet. We look at these young girls, or even young males that have little kids, and they just want someone to love them. They just want someone to be with that’s going to love them. They don’t take 6 months to get to know that person. They don’t take the time to get to know that person before they move them into their home. They could look like a knight in shining armor when you first meet them, but you don’t know.”

She also said too many people think these kinds of things could never happen to them, thinking that it can’t happen here, or can’t happen in my family or neighborhood. She wants people to learn from the pain her family suffered and to be more vigilant because it can happen anywhere. Great-grandmother Jean Carlo felt the same way. She said, “These babies are being hurt, and they’re being hurt by people that were trusted and people that told them they loved them.” She hoped other families would learn from their tragedy, that Serenity’s memory could live on through her story and the other children she could protect. Grandmother Melissa said that men like Joshua prey on young girls who don’t have any stability and no real connections with their family. “They prey on females like that,” she warned, hoping young women would be cautioned against bringing a stranger into their child’s life. She said her family wanted to use all of this as awareness and to maybe help protect somebody else’s child, “Cause if it reaches one person—one person in each town—imagine how many babies this story saved.”