Neighbors of the man charged in the suspicious death of a North Carolina toddler said he had a temper issue and was prone to resorting to violence.
According to The Jacksonville Daily News, residents of the Inez Mobile Home Park where Mariah Woods, 3, also lived recalled an incident where suspect Earl Kimrey, 32, took a baseball bat to the family van.
“He smashed every window and piece of glass on that van,” neighbor Kyle Bonitz said.
The newspaper reported that neighbors spotted the damaged vehicle on the property for several days.
“He said he had an ‘adult temper’ and was upset that he had been left alone without the keys and without cigarettes,” Bonitz claimed Kimrey told him shortly after the alleged ordeal.
As CrimeOnline reported earlier today, Kimrey, who is the live-in boyfriend of Woods’ mother, briefly appeared in court early Monday and was formally charged with concealing of death, obstruction of justice, second-degree burglary, felony larceny, and possession of stolen property. It was then that a judge also set his bond to $1 million.
Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller said that Kimrey wore protective body armor during Monday’s three-minute initial appearance.
“It’s our obligation to protect him from any aggression in the courtroom. We did provide body armor for his protection. We don’t want anyone to take justice into their own hands,” he said, according to The Daily News.
The Fayetteville police dive team discovered the 3-year-old’s body around 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Shelter Creek in Pender County, North Carolina. Authorities supposedly arrested Kimrey in connection with the child’s disappearance on Friday.
Woods’ mother, Kristy, reportedly last saw her daughter in bed on November 26. Police issued an Amber Alert shortly after receiving the missing persons report.
Miller revealed that the remains recovered from the creek haven’t been positively identified as Mariah. A preliminary autopsy was completed Monday morning and authorities are awaiting the results, he added.
[Featured Image: Earl Kimrey/Police Handout]
