Photo: Rowan County Sheriffs Office
The mother of a 13-year-old North Carolina girl whose body was found in a shallow grave in 2016 — three years after she was reported missing — has pleaded guilty to her murder.
On Friday, Casey Parsons admitted to murdering Erica Parsons in 2011. She will spend the rest of her life in prison, according to a Rowan County Superior Court official.
In 2014, Sandy and Casey Parsons were convicted of fraud for keeping federal adoption assistance money after Erica went missing. During the fraud trial, details of Erica’s abusive home life surfaced.
Robin Ashley, Casey Parsons’ sister, testified that her sister had asked her to watch Erica for a few months so she “wouldn’t kill her.” Ashley also testified that her sister said she “couldn’t stand the sight of [Erica’s] face” and that Erica was often covered in bruises and marks.
Jamie Parsons said that he and his sister and both parents would allegedly abuse Erica routinely: She would be forced to eat dog food, be prohibited from using the bathroom and have her fingers broken intentionally. Jamie testified that the last time he saw his sister, she looked like a “zombie” and she told him she “didn’t feel good, couldn’t breathe too good.”
Casey and Sandy Parsons.Rowan County Jail)
The next day, she was gone, he testified. When he asked his mother where Erica was, she told him she went to her grandmother’s house.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Clickhereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
Before Friday, Casey Parsons was scheduled to go to trial in April 2020.
Sandy Parsons remains behind bars and is facing first degree murder, child abuse, felony concealment of death and felony obstruction of justice. He has not entered a plea and his attorney could not be reached for comment Friday.
source: people.com
