Court record shows how dead girl ended up in father’s custody

A Common Pleas Court judge ordered Bella Seachrist, an infant at the time, to be placed in her biological father’s custody in August 2017 after Allegheny County child advocates declared his home suitable for her to live in, according to court documents.

Nearly three years later, her father, Jose Salazar-Ortiz, her stepmother, Laura Ramriez, and Ms. Ramriez’s sister, Alexis Herrera, have all been charged in Bella’s death on June 9 from what police said was “prolonged physical and mental abuse.”

In early 2017, the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families filed a dependency petition for Bella. CYF filed the petition when the girl was living with her biological mother, Nicole Seachrist, alleging Bella was “without proper care or control.”

Less than a month after the petition was filed, a Common Pleas judge found Bella “dependent” under subsection 1 of the Juvenile Act, meaning there was evidence she was exposed to her mother’s alcohol or controlled substance abuse, placing her safety or welfare at risk.

Mr. Salazar-Ortiz told police he went to court to gain custody because of concerns over substance abuse by Bella’s biological mother, according to a criminal complaint.

Despite the court’s findings, Bella was initially allowed to remain with Ms. Seachrist under the conditions her mother comply with all court recommendations, submit to random drug screens and keep her daughter up-to-date on medical appointments, according to court documents.

Yet on May 31, 2017, Bella was removed from Ms. Seachrist’s care and placed into foster care after the court found Ms. Seachrist had made “minimal progress toward her goals.”

On or about the next day, Bella’s CYF caseworker contacted Mr. Salazar about returning Bella to his care. Several weeks later, after CYF indicated Mr. Salazar-Ortiz’s home in Oakmont, which he shared with Ms. Ramriez, their three other children and eventually Ms. Herrera, was suitable for a child, the court permitted Bella to live with Mr. Salazar-Ortiz starting after the Fourth of July holiday.

Mr. Salazar-Ortiz was then granted sole legal custody of Bella on Aug. 9, 2017.

Further information about CYF’s involvement with Bella and her biological parents was not immediately available. However, the court document noted Mr. Salazar-Ortiz had participated as a party, witness or in another capacity in other litigation surrounding the custody of his daughter.

Ms. Seachrist could not be reached for comment.