FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) A mother and stepfather now face upgraded charges in the 2019 death of a 7-year-old boy.
Fayetteville Police Department announced Thursday that Saint Michael Edwards, 25, is now charged with first-degree murder; Evie Bates, 25, is now charged with accessory after the fact of first-degree murder.
The pair are accused in the death of 7-year-old Ethan Bates, who was found dead inside his Fayetteville home Oct. 2, 2019. They were previously jailed on child abuse charges.
Ethan s stepfather is being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center without bond. Ethan s mother is being detained on bonds totaling over $1 million.
Ethan missed three days of school, and a teacher reported seeing bruises on his face prior to his death.
Posted December 31, 2020 2:35 p.m. EST
Police were called to a home in the 1500 block of Sisal Drive, off Murchison Road, on Oct. 2, 2019, and found Ethan Bates dead. Police haven t said how the boy died.
Saint Michael Edwards, 25, was previously charged with felony intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and has been in the Cumberland County jail under $1 million bond for the past 15 months. He will remain there under no bond on the first-degree murder charge.
The child s mother, Evie Loretta Bates, 25, is charged with accessory after the fact of first-degree murder. She also has been in jail since October 2019 on a charge of felony intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, and another $10,000 has been added to her $1 million bond.