Background: News footage of Kymberli Bowden’s home in High Point, N.C. (WGHP). Inset: Kymberli Bowden (Guilford County Sheriff’s Office).
The High Point Police Department reported the arrest last Thursday, detailing a grim scene they encountered during a welfare check on October 13. Inside Bowden’s residence, authorities found the lifeless body of her daughter amidst squalid conditions. The girl’s twin brother was also present and alive but living in distressing circumstances. According to a probable cause affidavit accessed by Law&Crime, the home was described as being littered with trash, decaying food, and generally unsanitary.
An investigation into the heart-wrenching situation led to Bowden being charged with two counts of child neglect resulting in serious bodily injury, as well as the concealment or failure to report the death of a child. Law enforcement officials allege that Bowden had neglected to provide necessary food and medical care, which they believe contributed to her daughter’s tragic demise.
The surviving twin brother reportedly endured significant psychological distress due to the appalling conditions in the home. Police have highlighted that being forced to live alongside his deceased sister inflicted “prolonged neglect” and “extreme trauma” upon the boy.
A neighbor, witnessing the police presence, recounted to WGHP, a local Fox affiliate, seeing Bowden being taken from her home on a gurney on October 13. Details regarding her condition at the time remain undisclosed.
A neighbor in Bowden’s neighborhood who saw police activity at her home told local Fox affiliate WGHP that Bowden was removed from her home on Oct. 13 on a gurney. No additional information was provided about her condition that day.
Police did not indicate who had custody of the surviving child.
Bowden was taken into custody on Thursday and booked into the Guilford County Jail on $1 million bond. Her next court date is scheduled for Nov. 17.
