A North Carolina mother faces first-degree murder charges after her 13-year-old daughter died from starvation, weighing just 35 pounds when authorities discovered her body in their High Point home last October.
Horrific Discovery in High Point Home
Kymberli Bowden, 45, received the murder charge Thursday following an autopsy that determined her daughter, identified only as ZT, died from acute necrotizing pneumonia combined with severe malnutrition. Police found the child’s body on October 14, 2025, approximately two days after her death. Family members had contacted authorities after not seeing ZT for months, prompting the welfare check that uncovered the tragedy.
Medical examiners described ZT as extremely emaciated with matted, dirty hair and sunken eyes in a gaunt face. Court records revealed the teen weighed between 63 and 65 pounds at previous doctor visits, making her final weight of 35 pounds a catastrophic decline. Officers discovered her 13-year-old twin brother still alive in the residence, though he lacked proper nutrition, clothing, and sanitary living conditions.
Neighbors Raised Concerns Before Death
High Point Police Department call logs documented multiple welfare checks requested by concerned neighbors asking officers to investigate conditions inside the home. When police finally entered the residence, they found it filled with trash and rotting food throughout. The surviving twin brother suffered serious psychological harm from the neglect, according to court warrants obtained by local media. Authorities immediately arrested Bowden on two counts of felony child abuse and concealing a death when they discovered the scene.
Legal Consequences and Community Impact
Prosecutors filed the first-degree murder charge only after receiving final autopsy results confirming malnutrition as the cause of death. Bowden faces life in prison if convicted on the murder charge. Her next court appearance is scheduled for December. The case highlights failures in child welfare systems when neighbors repeatedly alerted authorities to potential problems. Police records show officers had visited the property multiple times before finding ZT’s body, raising questions about intervention protocols when concerned citizens report suspected child neglect.
Wow!! All those reports by concerned neighbors and nothing was done to save this child. Mom looks like she’s not all upstairs either, drugs perhaps? I can only imagine the conditions the officers walked into when they finally entered the house not to mention the child’s bedroom. Something needs to be done to prevent children and the elderly from falling through the cracks or in this case a gaping hole the size of the Grand Canyon.
When this woman is found guilty, she should be swinging from the gallows 30 days after the verdict is read. No food, clean conditions or clothes, medical care for those 30 days either. Some people will say but that’s cruel and unusual punishment. To that I say what about the cruel and unusual circumstances surrounding this child’s death? Why should she be treated any better than she treated her OWN children? Do unto others as you’d have done to you. I think this would be a perfect example of that golden rule.
I agree. Liberals will be hollering “cruel and unusual punishment” to hanging or any type of capital punishment and they are welcome to their opinion. But are any of those cruel and unusual ? I think not.
My solution to the issue is very simple:. once this woman has been convicted her death should be drawn out and she should be left to die for as long as it takes: She should be thrown into solitary confinement with no human contact, no food, recreation periods, or personal hygiene opportunities until she withers away and dies. May the punishment equal the crime
Couldn’t have said this any better!
How can people really believe that? That wouldn’t be a deterrent if you was subjected as the murderer to the same treatment that you bestowed upon your victim and that’s what they are of victim. And then if you did that three times to three different people, then the rest of the people would get the idea. Hey, if I do that kind of nonsense that’s exactly what they’re going to do to me. Number four and five won’t do it. They’ll adjust their lives to live by the rules. Just my opinion but I’ve said that for years and if you have a law-abiding citizen needs a heart lung liver a kidneys. Hey, whenever the pieces match your numbers up