Adolphus Earl Kimrey is from North Carolina who has plead guilty to the murder of Mariah Woods and received a life without parole sentence. According to court documents Adolphus Earl Kimrey would murder three year old Mariah Woods and then reported the little girl as missing. A large search ensued searching for Mariah Woods which ended a few days later with the little girl body found in a creek.
Adolphus Earl Kimrey who was dating Mariah Woods mother would ultimately be arrested and charged in the murder of Mariah. To avoid the death penalty Adolphus Earl Kimrey would ultimately plead guilty to murder and child abuse charges.
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A man charged with murdering a 3-year-old North Carolina girl pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Adolphus Earl Kimrey pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to first-degree murder and felony child abuse in the 2017 death of 3-year-old Mariah Woods. He was Mariah’s mother’s live-in boyfriend at the time of the toddler’s disappearance, which sparked a massive search effort, WITN reports.
The plea was part of a plea deal in which the state agreed to take the death penalty off the table. Prosecutors said in 2018 they would seek the death penalty against Kimrey if he was convicted.
Kimrey’s court appearance came after several delayed trial dates due to the pandemic and other issues, like Kimrey’s lawyer preparing for another murder trial.
Mariah’s body was found in a creek in Pender County several days after she was reported missing. The case left scars in the community that continued to go unhealed as the proceedings dragged on.
District Attorney Ernie Lee told the judge that the child died from chloroform toxicity and that there was no credible evidence of a sexual assault.
Lee said they had statements from two former cellmates of Kimrey.
“He said he used chloroform to make her go to sleep because she was bothering him while he was trying to get high,” he told the judge.
Defense attorney Wally Paramore turned to the family and apologized to them. He told the judge that Kimrey was “completely consumed and inundated by drugs.”
“I am deeply sorry for the grief that I have caused, responsibility for Mariah’s death,” Kimrey told the judge. “Again, I am so very sorry.”
After a 70-minute hearing in which the judge heard from the tearful mother of the toddler, he sentenced Kimrey to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
https://www.wsfa.com/2022/12/13/man-gets-life-prison-murder-3-year-old-nc-girl/
