Wake County death investigation leads to discovery of child sexual abuse

GARNER, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A man found dead on the side of the road, and a woman charged with child abuse in an adjacent mobile home park are apparently somehow connected but investigators aren't saying how.

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The Wake Sheriff's Office says it got calls Wednesday about a body in a ditch on the side of Old Stage Road right outside the entrance to the Green Spring Valley mobile home park.

Hours after they began their investigation they put up crime scene tape around one of the mobile homes inside the park.

It's the home of April Murray.

Sheriff's investigators arrested her but did not charge her in connection with the death of the man in the ditch now identified as 34-year old Kevin Edward Thomas.

Instead, an arrest warrant shows she is charged with neglecting to report the sexual abuse of her 22-month old son.

RELATED: Man found dead along southern Wake County road identified

The warrant in stark terms says the boy was injured in an apparent sex assault.

"It does scare me 'cause, I don't know, a dead body like almost beside my home is crazy," said neighbor Mariela Amaya.

Amaya, the mother of a 26-month-old, added, "And child abuse. It's more crazy."

Amaya says her husband found Murray's toddler son wandering around outside unsupervised a few weeks ago and took the little boy home.

Murray faced a judge for the first time in a Wake County courtroom this afternoon.

During the brief hearing, a prosecutor told the judge Murray has an "extensive" criminal record in Florida including a current order for her arrest.

Most of the charges appear to be drug charges.

The only violent charges involve resisting a police officer.

The prosecutor also said statements made by Murray also indicated she might be a flight risk.

Murray responded by saying, "I didn't know I was getting arrested. If I knew that I wouldn't have made the statement that I was going to my family."

But the judge cut her off saying she shouldn't talk about the facts of the case.

No other information was revealed that would explain any connection between Murray, the dead man, and the child abuse charges.