A 13-year-old boy suffered “extreme trauma” when he was forced to share a home with the body of his twin sister, according to investigators in North Carolina.
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The mother of the twins has been charged with murder, after a year-long investigation concluded the girl died of starvation and neglect in 2025, the High Point Police Department said in an Oct. 8 news release.
Kymberli Bowden, 45, has also been charge with two counts of felony child abuse and concealing a death, police say.
“On October 13, 2025, patrol officers responded to a welfare check at a home on East Farris Avenue. During the check, a 13-year-old girl was found dead. Officers also found a 13-year-old boy inside the home,” police said.
“According to the autopsy report, the cause of (the girl’s) death was acute necrotizing pneumonia and inanition in the setting of caregiver neglect. The manner of death was homicide.”
Necrotizing pneumonia is a rare lung infection that “triggers severe inflammation … and the liquefaction of consolidated lung tissue,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
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An arrest warrant accuses Bowden of failing to provide adequate food and medical care for the girl, “which resulted in bodily injury and ultimately her death.”
Investigators did not report how long the girl had been dead. Bowden tried to conceal the death by keeping the remains inside the home, officials said.
The girl’s 13-year-old brother also showed evidence of neglect, the warrant reports.
“(He) was discovered in the home with the deceased body of his twin sister … and had no access to proper nutrition, clothing, or sanitary living conditions,” investigators said.
“As a result of this prolonged neglect and exposure to extreme trauma, (he) sustained serious psychological injury and mental harm constituting serious bodily injury.”
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Investigators did not report where the boy is currently living.
High Point is about a 75-mile drive northeast from uptown Charlotte.
