Fayetteville hotel where boy was killed ignored calls about 'muffled cries for help,' lawsuit says

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Fayetteville hotel where a mother is accused of beating her son to death is now facing a wrongful death lawsuit.

The suit, filed in Cumberland County by the child's father Kareem Moore Sr., alleges that the Fairfield Inn and Suites on Ramsey Street failed to respond to guest complaints about "muffled cries for help."

Those cries and screams were likely those of 9-year-old Zamarie Chance who investigators say died at the hands of his own mother, Crystal Matthews.

On the night of Oct. 21, 2017, a guest inside the Fairfield Inn did the right thing and called police.

But the suit says Fairfield Inn should've been the first to call police the night Zamarie was killed.

"I'm calling about the room upstairs, it sounds like a woman is getting beat," the 911 caller told dispatchers.

According to the lawsuit, the 911 call was made after two previous calls to the hotel's front desk about "muffled cries for help."

"I called the front desk and they said they would send maintenance up there and I haven't hear any knocks and it's continuing," the caller said.

The repetitive thuds, stomping and what the caller believed to be a woman screaming out were likely the shrieks of Zamarie.

His mother remains in the Cumberland County Jail charged with first degree murder, accused of savagely beating her own son to death.

The lawsuit against the hotel, its general manager and its parent company demands $25,000 in damages, claiming they "failed to call 911, failed to do a welfare check and failed to train their employees to properly respond to violence."

ABC11 attempted to get in contact with the parent company of the Fairfield Inn on Ramsey Street but did not receive a response.