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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 12, 2022 01:50 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Natalie Mihalek |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Concealing Death of a Child |
| Please join me in sponsoring legislation inspired by the death, and despicable mistreatment, of a baby boy in Washington County. In November, investigators discovered that after her five-month old baby died, the child's mother placed the body in a crate, cut a hole in the wall of her home, stuffed the baby's remains into the hole, then replaced the hole with drywall and a fresh coat of paint. When asked the whereabouts of their child, the parents would claim he was in North Carolina being watched by someone else. Eventually, the lies of these parents - who were also under investigation by local child protective services - unraveled. But when our district attorney filed charges, he was surprised to learn that this horrifying conduct only supported misdemeanor charges for concealing the death of a child and abuse of corpse. I intend to introduce legislation that will elevate this kind of conduct to a felony of the second degree when a person is guilty of concealing the death of a child and, in the commission of that offense, does so in a manner that constitutes abuse of a corpse. I hope you will join me in sponsoring this legislation and, in doing so, paying a measure of respect to this young victim who received no such dignity from his parents. |
Introduced as HB2276