North Carolina mother charged with murder after teen daughter found severely malnourished

Kymberli Bowden, 45, was formally charged with first-degree murder after investigators uncovered the body of her 13-year-old daughter, referred to as ZT, in their High Point residence. The teen weighed only 35 pounds and exhibited severe emaciation, with dirty, matted hair and sunken eyes, according to the medical one outlet’s report. An autopsy determined the death resulted from acute necrotizing pneumonia combined with inanition, or extreme malnutrition.

Police had been alerted earlier by relatives and neighbors who had not seen ZT for months, prompting a welfare check that also revealed her twin brother alive but living in unsanitary conditions without proper nutrition. The brother is reported to have suffered significant psychological trauma. In addition to the murder charge, Bowden was charged with two counts of felony child abuse and concealing a death, and she faces the possibility of a life sentence if convicted.