New details in toddler's death, family starts GoFundMe

Richmond County Daily Journal - 6/24/2020

Jun. 23--Related Articles

ELLERBE -- New charges have been filed in the case of the toddler who died last week after being left in a car and more details have been made available about the events that lead to the child's death.

Dorothy Morgan Moore, 53, has been charged with one felony count of operating a unlicensed daycare facility, in addition to her charges of one felony count each of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. Moore was charged with these two felonies along with Paige Elizabeth Black, 24, last week.

This new charge added $10,000 to Moore's secure bond, bringing the total to $40,000. She has since posted bond, according to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

The family of the deceased child, Nolan Lee Charles Powley, has started a GoFundMe to help support them, which can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/pfa3c-justice-for-nolan.

"This is something that a mother should never have to go through. As you can imagine, no family is ever prepared for the death of a child. All donations are greatly appreciated," reads the GoFundMe page. "Please continue to keep our family & friends in your prayers."

Moore was operating a daycare called Dorothy's Darlings in Ellerbe. There have been no previous complaints about this facility, according to Kelly Connor of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The daycare is no longer operating.

"The Division of Child Development and Early Education is aware of an incident and is considering next steps," Connor said in an email Tuesday morning. "DCDEE has not received previous complaints about this unlicensed child care program and has not had previous contact."

The Ellerbe Rescue Squad and sheriff's deputies responded to a report of an unresponsive child at a residence on Larry Parsons Road at about 3:10 p.m. on June 18. Moore and Black were at a home on the same road with 11 children and left around mid-day (one person told investigators they left between 12 p.m. and 12:20 p.m., while Black said they left this home at 1 p.m.) to head to the residence listed as belonging to Moore, court documents show.

Three of these children were related to Moore. Black told investigators that she was putting the children down for a nap at about 2 p.m. and realized that 22-month-old Nolan Lee Charles Powley was not with the group. She then went out to her car and found him unresponsive in the front seat of her car. They performed CPR on him while calling 9-1-1. Moore told investigators that the child had been in the car for about two hours.

Black said that Powley had been in the back seat when they were driving. A member of the Ellerbe Rescue Squad said that when they arrived on the scene, the child was soaked with sweat. Powley was transported to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital -- Richmond and pronounced deceased at 4:04 p.m.

Warrants for Moore's arrest describe that she was operating a child care facility that would care for more than two children who were not related to her and under the age of 13 at least once per week, and did not have a license to do so.

Neither Moore nor Black have any previous convictions.

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