Mariah Woods' accused killer to face death penalty trial
The man charged with killing 3-year-old Mariah Kay Woods and dumping her body in a Pender County creek last year pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday.
Prosecutors also got the go-ahead to try the case as a capital murder case.
Adolphus Earl Kimrey II, 32, is charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. Kimrey, the boyfriend of the girl's mother, was previously charged with obstruction of justice and concealing a death.
Kimrey reported Mariah missing on the morning of Nov. 27, telling a 911 dispatcher that the pink pajamas she wore to bed were on the floor of her bedroom.
"We've looked through the house two or three times, here in the yard," he told the dispatcher. "It's not like her to go outside at all, not in the middle of the night or in the morning by herself."
Hundreds of volunteers joined the search for the girl, but after five days of searching, a dive team from Fayetteville found her body in Holly Shelter Creek in a remote area of Pender County – about 30 miles from her home.
Search warrants released Friday indicate that people saw Kimrey load something "bigger than a bookbag" into a van and leave the home he shared with Kristy Woods and her children on the night of Nov. 26.
Among items seized at the home on Dawson Cabin Road were the girl's pajamas, a section of wall from her bedroom, duct tape, part of a floor mat from the van, four bottles of bleach, a syringe, a shovel, several pieces of carpet, blue overalls, men's underwear, two "homemade" sexual devices, nail polish remover, a black bag with duct tape, a white pipe with a nozzle on it and several receipts found in a trashcan outside.
Although the autopsy report hasn't been released yet, Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller has said Mariah died of chloroform poisoning.
Chloroform can be used as an anesthetic in small doses, but it can be toxic in large amounts. Among its other uses, the volatile chemical is used in the production of Teflon and in refrigerants for air conditioners.
Onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee said during a brief court hearing Monday that there was at least one aggravating factor that qualifies the case for a possible death sentence, but he didn't elaborate.
Defense attorney Wally Paramore didn't contest Lee's assertion, and the judge approved Kimrey's case as a capital murder case.
No one tried on Onslow County has been executed in at least 30 years. Three people from Onslow County are currently on death row, with the last conviction coming in 2001.
