The grandfather of Kayleigh Slusher, the three-year-old girl who was found dead in her mother's Napa apartment on Sunday, has spoken out to the press about the loss of his granddaughter, his daughter's apparent drug use, and who he believes is ultimately responsible: the boyfriend.
John Krueger insists that his daughter, 23-year-old Sara Krueger, was "manipulated" by boyfriend Ryan Warner, and that she "loved Kayleigh with all her heart," as KTVU reports. Warner came into Sara's life ten months ago, and her father says that her life immediately changed for the worse.
Neighbors confirm that after Warner moved in, the couple rarely ventured outside, drew the curtains, and Kayleigh was seen outside much less often. Crystal meth seems to be the other culprit in all this, and police had been called nine times to the apartment in the last nine months. Child protective services had, strangely, never been called, but Napa police performed their most recent welfare check on the little girl last Thursday, perhaps because of a call from a neighbor. As the Chron reports, Sara Krueger was sent a letter from the apartment complex management several weeks ago threatening that there was a police watch on her apartment and that she may lose her housing if she did not cut off the frequent foot traffic to and from the home.
As we noted yesterday, Ryan Warner's Facebook profile listed his occupation as "Trappin'," meaning he was likely a meth dealer, hence the foot traffic.
Kayleigh was found dead in her bed on Sunday after Krueger and Warner were seen leaving the apartment complex with suitcases. They were later spotted at a pancake restaurant in El Cerrito, and arrested by BART police at El Cerrito Del Norte station on suspicion of Kayleigh's murder. There is evidence of both blunt-force trauma and sexual assault.
We will know more about the case following Krueger's court appearance today, and after the results of Kayleigh's autopsy.
