The remains of a six-year-old child were discovered beneath the floorboards of a Moro, Arkansas, home this past Friday, and has resulted in the arrests of a man and woman in connection to the crime.
Both the 28-year-old mother of the child, Ashley Roland, along with 33-year-old Nathan bridges, were both arrested and issued charges of capital murder, tampering with physical evidence, abuse of a corpse, and endangering the welfare of a minor, explained the state police officials for Arkansas in a release. Reportedly, Bridges is the current boyfriend of Roland.
“Based on initial findings, it’s believed the boy died from injuries sustained in the home, possibly three months ago,” explained police officials. “The state medical examiner will determine the manner and cause of death.”
Roland was also the mother of a 6-year-old daughter who has discovered sporting fairly severe burns to her scalp. The girl has since been taken out of the home and is being given treatment out in a Memphis, Tennessee, hospital, where she is reportedly now ins able condition.
Police were sent to the home back on the 16th of December at roughly 10:46 p.m. in the wake of being informed that the young boy had been found dead and stashed under the floorboards of the house.
“It’s very [disheartening] that I have a house, just two houses over, and had no idea that there was a deceased child that close … I hope they’re punished to the fullest,” exclaimed Machelle Calloway, the neighbor of the couple, to WREG Memphis.
A friend of the two children’s grandmother Karen, Anita Widby, created a GoFundMe page for the children and stated that Karen “has been trying to get custody of her grandchild for over a year” and has pursued this “through the proper channels” even going so far as paying “a ridiculous amount of money” to finally get an order from the court which would allow her to meet with her grandchildren each weekend. Widby stated on the page that when Karen went to the house on Friday, she was informed that the young boy was at the time staying over at a friend’s home and that the oldest “couldn’t walk.” Widby also stated that Karen took the child to an area hospital to treat her injuries, claiming that the “child’s hair had been chopped off, she is malnourished, cracked ribs, and many many burns on her body in various stages of healing.”
Widby expressed that Karen was told later that the deceased body of her other grandchild had been found.
“These children have endured so much pain, neglect, and death,” stated Widby. “I desperately want to help lessen the financial burden that the burial for the youngest and items needed for the oldest will present. They have so much healing to do and I want us to come together and remove one burden from Karen’s plate.”
As of writing, the GoFundMe page has managed to gather $20,000 of the $100,000 goal set up, and a report from the Arkansas State Police explained that the investigation into the crime is still ongoing.