Local News

Slain Kinston mom's cause of death undetermined

The death of a Kinston mother whose dismembered body was found in a Texas creek last summer was the result of homicide, but medical examiners aren't sure of an exact cause of death, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday.

Posted Updated
Laura Ackerson, missing Kinston woman
RALEIGH, N.C. — Medical examiners say they can't be sure exactly how a Kinston mother, whose body was found dismembered in Texas last summer, died, according to an autopsy report.

The report, released Wednesday, said that injuries to Laura Ackerson's neck suggested a sharp force injury to the neck and that there was also evidence suggesting that someone tried to strangle her.

But it was medical examiner Dr. Deborah Radisch's opinion that "the cause of death is best classified as undetermined homicidal violence."

Ackerson, 27, is believed to have been in Raleigh before she was reported missing in July. Five days later, her remains were found in a creek in Richmond, Texas, about 60 miles south of Houston.

Raleigh police arrested her former boyfriend and the father of her two children, Grant Haze, and his wife, Amanda Haze, in connection with her death.

Investigators haven't commented on a possible motive, but Ackerson's relatives have said that she and Grant Haze were involved in a contentious child custody battle.

A trial date for the Hazes has not been set.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.