North Carolina Son Sets 72-Year-Old Mom on Fire Resulting in Her Death

The son of a 72-year-old woman from North Carolina is accused of lighting her on fire and killing her. The Winston-Salem Police Department got a complaint of a lady on fire outside of a residence early Monday morning.

As per police, the 72-year-old woman's son, James Parker, became agitated and poured gasoline on his mother as she was on the porch. He then set fire to her.

North Carolina Man Burns Mom to Death

According to police, the flames were put out. The woman was rushed to the hospital and died there, KWQC reported. Firefighters hurried to extinguish the flames that were devouring her body. Joanna Parker was transferred to a nearby hospital and ultimately died. Her 48-year-old son, James Parker, was later arrested for the murder and is being kept in police custody.

Her son, James Parker, is being jailed without bond in the Forsyth County Detention Center after being accused with her murder. Adora Gonzalez, Joanna's great-niece, lives across the street and observed everything from her kitchen window. "I don't think I'll ever get over that," Adora Gonzalez said.

For hours, police taped off the house with crime scene tape while they collected evidence. The front porch was charred in the footage, with melted debris apparent. As red gasoline can sat in the front yard, a forensics unit was sighted at the house.

According to Joanna's relatives, the wheelchair-bound woman died from third and fourth-degree burns. Joanna and her son had a strained relationship, but she never anticipated something like this to happen, Gonzalez explained, Meaww reported.

North Carolina Couple Recently Charged of Burying Infant Are Cousins

As per WRAL, the case of a North Carolina couple accused of killing their infant recently took an unexpected turn: the child was the result of incest. Dustin VanDyke, 28, and Gracie Riddle, 18, of Erwin, N.C., are cousins, according to a family relative.

The infant's bones were discovered after police received a tip about an unreported death from a family member. The infant's age and gender have not been published, but detectives suspect that Riddle gave birth around Nov. 22 and the kid was slain shortly after.

In accordance with investigators, the death does not appear to be an accident, but the cause is yet unknown. VanDyke and Riddle face first-degree murder charges. According to HNGN, authorities were notified of the buried child by a family member around 9 p.m. on Friday. Investigators acquired a search warrant and brought a cadaver dog with them. An autopsy is being performed to determine the cause and manner of death, although detectives suspect it was not an accident.

The autopsy will also determine the infant's gender and age, according to Erwin Police Chief Jonathan Johnson, who added that the child seemed to be a newborn. Investigators believe the family member who provided the tip was aware of the child for some time before reporting it.

Based on a published report, more than half of North Carolina's law enforcement agencies failed to provide the FBI with a full year's worth of crime information. The Marshall Project revealed that 293 of the 531 businesses across the state - or 55% - provided such data for the whole year 2021, while the remaining 45 percent did not.

In this area, North Carolina is placed 18th in the country. Rhode Island came in first with 92%, whereas agencies in three other states, Florida, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, had less than 1%.