ROCKINGHAM — Two young adults are facing child abuse charges after a toddler wound up in the emergency room.
According to a press release from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the emergency room at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital-Richmond on Jan. 13 in reference to a child with injuries.
Deputies were reportedly told by hospital staff that the child, who is around a year old, had bruising and a possible broken leg. Investigators were called to the hospital.
Through a medical exam and investigation, it was discovered that the child had bruising and bone fractures, which were in multiple stages of healing, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators charged 22-year-old Mykaela Austyn Bowman and 20 year-old Ali Rashaad Mughal, both of Craddock Circle, southeast of Rockingham, each with three felony counts of neglect child abuse with serious injury.
The two were arrested Jan. 19 and booked into the Richmond County Jail, each under a $50,000 secured bond. They are scheduled to appear in court Feb. 3.
Neither has any other pending charges or previous criminal convictions in the state, according to online records.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
