Two 21-year-olds charged in the deaths of two young children were released on bond after a hearing Monday. | QuinceCreative/Pixabay
Two 21-year-olds charged in the deaths of two young children were released on bond after a hearing Monday. | QuinceCreative/Pixabay
Zharia Noel and Ahemene Butler, both 21, are charged with child abuse, inflicting serious injury and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of two small children. The defendants stood before a judge on Monday.
The children — 14-month-old Amariah Noel and 3-month-old Kamryn Noel — were found dead in a packed car in Rocky Mount on Saturday.
"I'm just so distraught," Gloria Pullen said in a Monday WTVD report. "I'm so hurt because this shouldn't have happened. If she didn't want them, she could have brought them to us. We would've took care of them. We is (sic) a tight-knit family."
Arrest warrants for Noel and Butler were issued soon after the dead children were discovered, the report said. The warrants revealed that both children had burned skin, marks and bruises on their bodies.
Noel, the children's mother, and Butler were released on $100,000 unsecured bonds on Monday, the report said. The district attorney challenged that decision in court, but the judge denied the request to increase the bond or hold the defendants.
Pullen, the paternal grandmother of the 14-month-old child, attended the hearing and made her comments after Noel and Butler left the courtroom.
A probable cause hearing has been set for May 11, the WTVD report said.
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