More than a month after a 9-year-old boy died in Kingstree, South Carolina, a Williamsburg County couple is charged with child abuse homicide in his death.
Bobby Joe FultonJr., 32, was arrested on Friday and charged with murder, according to the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Tasha Temeeka McFadden, 42 was arrested on Monday and charged with child abuse, aiding and abetting homicide – which is a minor charge.
Under South Carolina law, SLED must investigate all child deaths.
According to arrest warrants, Fulton “inflicted serious injuries” on the boy between 9:30 am and 1 pm on December 29, 2020.
Fulton “exercised extreme indifference to human life while using brute force to cause injuries” to the child who led to his death, according to the police.
He did not take the child to the hospital or call 911, according to arrest warrants.
McFadden is accused of allowing Fulton to beat the child to death, police officials said in the warrants.
She told police she knew of two incidents in which Fulton abused the 9-year-old and she did nothing about it, according to arrest warrants.
McFadden is accused of failing to act when he learned that the child was being abused, which allowed Fulton to continue harming him, police said.
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Fulton faces up to 20 years in prison on his charge, while McFadden faces 10 to 20 years in prison.
Both Fulton and McFadden were charged with illegal negligence with a child in the incident earlier this month, according to Kingstree News.
Kingstree News reported that Fulton abused McFadden’s two other children, according to police reports.
Fulton and McFadden were charged at the Williamsburg County Detention Center. The 3rd Circuit Prosecutor’s Office will process both cases.
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The Kingstree assassination is the second child abuse homicide in South Carolina this year.
In January, Jerry Austin Robinson, 34, and Ariel Robinson, 29, were charged with child abuse homicide in the death of their 3-year-old adopted daughter, Victoria Rose Smith.
After the tragedy, more than 25,000 people signed a petition calling on state lawmakers to reform the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS) – an agency marked by scandals and whose shortcomings are now in the national spotlight.
According to the SCDSS Office of Child Fatalities, more than 20 SC children die each year due to mistreatment by a caregiver.
In 2020, 24 children died in South Carolina from abuse and six children died from abuse.
To report child abuse in South Carolina, call 1-888-CARE-4-US or use this online portal.
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