HIGGINSVILLE, MO – A 3-year-old girl discovered dead in a Missouri motel room had been bound with zip ties and bore signs of severe abuse, with her father now admitting he kicked her in the head the night she died because she wouldn’t stop misbehaving.
Novaleigh Galloway’s small body was found inside the Classic Motel in Higginsville on December 23, showing injuries that painted a horrific picture of her final hours. She had black eyes and ligature marks on her wrists and ankles from being restrained.
Kyle Galloway, the girl’s father, and Deanna Kay Hankins, a woman unrelated to the child, now face charges including child abuse, neglect, and endangerment. Both remain jailed without bond.
Court documents reveal disturbing details about what happened that night. Galloway told investigators he used zip ties on his daughter because of “behavioral concerns.” When Novaleigh continued acting up while he and Hankins tried to sleep, the situation turned deadly.
According to the criminal complaint, Galloway kicked the toddler in the head, then made a chilling observation to Hankins.
“Oh, that might have been a little hard,” he allegedly remarked.
Despite hearing the child breathing loudly afterward, neither adult bothered to check on her. They apparently assumed she was still misbehaving. By the time someone finally looked, Novaleigh wasn’t breathing at all.
Emergency responders were called but couldn’t save the little girl.
Making the case even more tragic, Novaleigh’s biological mother told investigators she hadn’t seen her daughter in months, even though she had court-ordered visitation rights. Something had clearly gone wrong in this child’s short life long before that fatal night in the motel.
Police searching the room found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, adding controlled substance possession to the list of charges both adults face.
The Lafayette County Medical Examiner is conducting a full autopsy to determine the official cause of death, though the physical evidence tells its own story.
