Ariana McKay was only a three-year-old girl when she passed away under circumstances a federal judge called “hell on Earth.” The events leading up to the sweet girl’s death have become an example of systemic breakdown, cruel parenting, and neglect. Ariana was forced to live in squalor; on a concrete basement floor covered in animal waste and maggots, without a bed, any food, and no one in the house who was sober enough to notice or care.
On August 23, 2022, Ariana was discovered unresponsive in a basement in Tokio, North Dakota, and later died in a hospital in the Twin Cities. Her guardians (her father, Austin Lester, 28, and his girlfriend, Krissy Hinsley, 25) were occupied with using drugs while the little girl overdosed on a bottle of adult liquid Tylenol.
Prosecutors stated that if Ariana had gotten medical help quickly, she would have survived.
But help arrived much too late.
Ariana McKay died after ingesting acetaminophen. She showed signs of being sick 24 hours before she was found unconscious, but her guardians used drugs instead of taking her to the hospital, prosecutors said. https://t.co/HlXQPWqCsJ
— InForum (@inforum) July 28, 2025
During the court proceedings, U.S. Assistant Attorney Lori Conroy delivered an alarming account of Ariana’s last days. “Her bed was a concrete floor soiled with animal waste, an uncleaned litter box, and maggots,” Conroy explained. Official court documents also showed that Ariana had been given large amounts of acetaminophen repeatedly to “subdue” her.
Ariana fell ill, but instead of taking action, Lester and Hinsley kept using drugs. It wasn’t until a full 24 hours had passed that they found the child unconscious, and by then, it was too late to help her.
An autopsy showed blunt force injuries that were allegedly caused by Lester using a wooden backscratcher.
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Even though the official cause of death was listed as an acetaminophen overdose, those injuries suggested there had been severe abuse over a more extended period.
Hinsley entered a guilty plea for two counts of child neglect and received a 10-year federal prison sentence on Monday. The judge dropped the involuntary manslaughter charge against him. Lester, on the other hand, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, child neglect, and assault toward the girl, with his sentencing set for August 5th.
U.S. District Judge Peter Welte didn’t hold back in his comments. “This child was put through hell on Earth,” he stated, condemning Hinsley’s “extreme indifference” as cruelty that was “beyond human comprehension.”
The girl, Ariana, lived with her maternal grandparents before she was returned to her father, Lester, in 2021. Unfortunately, those same grandparents were also being looked into for neglect involving other children.
As a result, Ariana ended up back in the care of Lester, who was reportedly abusive, and Hinsley, court records reveal, would take away the little girl’s food before she could even get to eat it.
The event has deeply shaken the Spirit Lake Nation community, where Ariana was held in high regard by everyone.
Speaking to The Forum, Spirit Lake chairwoman Lorna Jackson-Street shared, “Her life was sacred (…) Today’s sentencing represents a step toward justice, but no legal outcome can restore the precious life that was taken.”
Online, there’s been a considerable backlash against Hinsley’s relatively lenient sentence. One person commented, “10 years – are you kidding? A child lost its life… they should get life since they took a life.” Another person felt the same way, adding, “I’m sorry, 10 years is not enough for taking the life of a sweet 3 year old!”
But the hurt runs much deeper than just the prison sentence.
The little girl’s story is a heartbreaking reminder that justice often arrives too late, if at all.
