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Rocky Mount police release 911 calls in deaths of two children

Police said they found a 3-month-old baby and his 1-year-old sister unresponsive in a parked vehicle.

Posted Updated

By
Leslie Moreno
, WRAL reporter
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — The Rocky Mount Police Department on Tuesday released recordings of 911 calls reporting the weekend deaths of two young children.

Police are investigating the deaths of two infant siblings as a homicide. Officers responded to an EMS call in reference to two unresponsive children around 9:20 a.m. Saturday.

Once they arrived on scene, police said they found a 3-month-old baby, Kamryn, and his 1-year-old sister, Noel, unresponsive with burns and bruises in a parked vehicle.

According to neighbors who spoke with WRAL News, CPR was attempted on the children until EMS arrived.

Both of the children were pronounced dead at the hospital. The cause of their deaths is still unknown.

Rocky Mount police arrested and charged the mother and her boyfriend for the death of both children.

21-year-old Zharia Noel and 21-year-old Ahmene Butler were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter due to negligence and two counts of felony child abuse due to the children sustaining bodily injuries.

More charges could be pending, awaiting reports from the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s office.

One of the 911 calls released is a neighbor who reported finding two unresponsive babies. The other call is the father of the children, Butler, who is clearly distraught.

Butler reported his children were not responsive in the backseat and it didn't appear the children were breathing.

A distraught woman, believed to be the children's mother, Zharia Noel, can be heard in the background screaming.

Both Noel and Butler were out on bond Monday after a brief court appearance. A prosecutor asked the judge to review the $100,000 unsecured bonds issued for the couple, calling the amount "unusually low" based on the severity of their charges.

Rocky Mount police are asking anyone with information related to this incident to please contact Rocky Mount police at 252-972-1411, Twin County Crime Stoppers at 252-977-1111, or Text-ATip (Text RMPOL) and your message to CRIMES (274637), or message us directly using the MyRMT mobile app.

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