Inset: Blair Hamilton Hayes (Carteret County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Wildwood Road in Newport, N.C., where Hayes is accused of abandoning a woman in a freezing trailer (Google Maps).
A North Carolina man, aged 61, has been detained over claims he left a “medically fragile” and partially blind 47-year-old woman in a frigid, power-deprived trailer to perish, while he resided in a nearby hotel.
Blair Hamilton Hayes was apprehended last week and faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter related to the demise of Emma Jean Teague, according to documents accessed by Law&Crime.
A statement released by the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office revealed that the arrest followed an “extensive investigation” conducted by detectives concerning Teague’s death earlier this year.
“Teague was considered medically fragile, and facts unveiled during the investigation indicated she was abandoned in a camper on Wildwood Road in Newport by Hayes at the end of February 2025,” the statement conveys. “This probe discovered the camper lacked heat and electricity during this time, with temperatures ranging from the low to mid-30s during the day and dropping to the 20s at night.”
Detectives said that while forcing Teague in the unlivable camper, Hayes chose to get himself a room at a nearby hotel during the same span of time.
On February 20, emergency medical services responded to the camper’s address on Wildwood Road after Hayes called 911, telling the dispatcher he visited the camper to check on Teague and “realized she was unwell.”
The victim was rushed to Carteret Health Care Hospital where she was admitted in critical condition. The sheriff’s office said that the severity of Teague’s condition was attributable to “chronic medical issues aggravated by acute hypothermia from her exposure to the cold temperatures due to her living conditions.”
Teague ultimately succumbed to her condition and was pronounced dead on March 4. Following a subsequent autopsy, her cause of death was determined to be “end-stage cirrhosis of the liver” with “hypothermia” listed as a contributing factor.
According to the sheriff’s office, investigators found that Hayes was negligent when he left Teague in the camper “knowing there was no electricity, heat, or other means for her to care for herself. Teague was medically fragile and also had significant trouble ambulating on her [own], in addition to some degree of blindness.”
Following the investigation, the sheriff’s office consulted with the district attorney’s office before Hayes was formally charged.
In addition to the case of Teague’s death, authorities said that at the time of his arrest, Hayes had charges pending against him in Craven County, North Carolina, including one count of assault on a female and one count of assault on a disabled individual. It was not immediately clear if the pending charges involved Teague.
Hayes is currently being held in the Carteret County Detention Center in lieu of $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 5.
