Cleveland County parents charged after leaving 7-month-old with babysitter charged with murder

KINGS MOUNTAIN, NC — The parents of a 7-month-old killed last month in Kings Mountain are facing child abuse charges.

Brittany Bell, 27, and James Locust, 25, were arrested Friday, according to our partners at the Shelby Star.

Police said the couple left their child, Damien Bell, at home while they went to dinner.

The mother said when she got home, Damien was unconscious, and when she called police, she said babysitter Garrett Fredrick took off.

Doctors restored the child’s pulse and breathing while he was at the hospital in Kings Mountain and later found trauma-related injuries to the baby, the Star reported.

Doctors determined that even if Damien survived, he would likely be brain dead.

After a 24-hour manhunt, deputies arrested and charged Fredrick with murder.

The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office said Fredrick killed the 7-month-old boy he was babysitting, and is facing first-degree murder charges.

(Garrett Fredrick)

Fredrick was left to care for the baby while his mother and her boyfriend went out to dinner Sunday night. When they returned, he told them a dog had bitten the child and shaken him, but he did not call for help.

When the couple called 911, Fredrick - who had outstanding burglary warrants for his arrest - took off.

The child was taken to a hospital and then flown to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte where he died.

Doctors said he had trauma-related injuries.

"Everyone can feel that pain,” Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman said. “I feel for the community. I feel for the law enforcement agency here at the sheriff's office -- the investigators that had to deal with this hideous crime."

Fredrick is being held without bond in the Cleveland County jail.

Channel 9 tried to speak with him as he was being taken to a court hearing.

"Nothing man, I don't want to talk," he told us.

Investigators said Fredrick is a known Bloods gang member.

In a news release, Sheriff Alan Norman said, “Anyone who would do this to an innocent, defenseless baby is an evil coward. My faith tells me that he will have a day of reckoning in front of the Almighty, once his time on this earth is over. In the meantime, our detectives will put together a case that ensures he is held accountable to the laws of this state, and he will not be able to do this to any other defenseless victims. During the course of our work, our deputies sometimes see the worst of what humans can do to each other. We take some small satisfaction from the fact that we can hold the perpetrators of pure evil acts accountable.”

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