Mariah Woods.
A North Carolina man who killed his then-girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter and called police to report the child’s disappearance has pleaded guilty to killing her.
On Monday in Onslow County Superior Court, Adolphus Earl Kimrey II pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury in the 2017 slaying of Mariah Woods, according to the Onslow County Superior Court Clerk.
Kimrey entered the guilty plea in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He faced the death penalty if he had gone to trial and was convicted of killing her,WECTreports.
The toddler was reported missing from her home on Nov. 27, 2017.
Six days later, her tiny body was found inside three plastic trash bags that were stuffed inside a plaid couch cushion cover with a piece of cement and then tossed into a creek.
“My client accepts full responsibility for what happened to Mariah,” Kimrey’s attorney, Walter Paramore, said Monday in court about his client,WRALreports.
Kimrey, he said, “has wept about her. He cared for her, and he panicked.”
An autopsy and additional testing found that Mariah died of chloroform toxicity, the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office announced on January 24, 2018.
Mariah’s mother, Kristy Woods, who was dating Kimrey at the time of the child’s death, said in court Monday that her daughter “was the light of everybody’s life,” WRAL reports. “She had a smile and a laugh that could brighten anyone’s day.
On the morning Mariah was reported missing, Woods told police she put her daughter to bed on the evening of Nov. 26, 2017. The next morning, Mariah was gone.
Kimrey, Woods' live-in boyfriend, told police the toddler had woken up during the night but went back to bed, WRAL reported at the time.
In a 911 call on the morning of Nov. 27, 2017, Kimrey could be heard saying “Our two-year-old is nowhere to be found,” WRAL reports. “We’ve looked everywhere in our house and in our yard and our little girl, she’s missing.”
He told the dispatcher he found the “pink footie pajamas” Mariah was wearing when she went to bed were laying on the floor.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Kimrey was arrested on Dec. 1, 2017. He was initially charged with concealing a death, obstruction of justice, second-degree burglary, felony larceny and possession of stolen property.
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On Jan. 24, 2018, Kimrey was formally charged with with first-degree murder and felony intentional child abuse.
According to the arrest warrant, Kimrey “intentionally” inflicted serious bodily injury on Mariah using chloroform,The Jacksonville Daily Newsreports.
On Monday in court, District Attorney Ernie Lee said that before Mariah’s murder, Kimrey bought bleach, nail polish remover, a headlamp and zip ties at a local Family Dollar store,The Jacksonville Daily Newsreports.
Kimrey, he said, used the bleach and nail polish remover to make the chloroform. Kimrey was addicted to methamphetamine at the time of Mariah’s murder.
Kimrey, he said, had told two fellow inmates he given Mariah too much chloroform because he wanted her to go to sleep while he got high, Lee said,The Jacksonville Daily Newsreports.
Kimrey’s attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
