SYLVA — A woman authorities said kept her 8-year-old son locked in a car trunk for more than 16 hours was jailed Monday on murder and child abuse charges in the boy’s death.
Michelle Joyce Gibson apparently kept the child in the car while she worked at a Jackson County nursing home over the weekend because of “a baby-sitting issue,” Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe said.
A preliminary autopsy showed Devin Miles Gibson, a second-grader at Hall Fletcher Elementary School in Asheville, died of hyperthermia, or exposure to heat, Ashe said.
Gibson, 36, who had been living the past few weeks at Woodcroft Apartments on Coleman Avenue in north Asheville, was charged with second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and two counts of felony child abuse. She was jailed in lieu of $100,000 bond.
“The indications through the interviews was the child was left in the automobile in the trunk area exceeding 16 hours,” the sheriff said. “It’s an unacceptable child abuse that led to the death of an
8-year-old child.”
The sheriff said the boy was kept in the car trunk while his mother worked Sunday at Mountain Trace Nursing Center in the Little Savannah community of Jackson County. The child also was in the trunk at least part of the day Saturday as the mother worked at the center as a certified nursing assistant, but it’s unclear when he died, he said.
Ashe said Gibson told a coworker about the death about 4 p.m. Sunday. Jackson County 911 took a call from the nursing center about 5:32 p.m. reporting a possible death, and by that time Gibson was on her way home.
Asheville officers were alerted and found Gibson and the boy in the back seat of her Ford Escort in the parking lot, Asheville Police Capt. Sarah Benson said.
A Woodcroft Apartments resident called Buncombe County 911 at 6:51 p.m.
“There’s a lady who said her kid is dead from heat exhaustion,” the caller said. “She’s parked outside my house right now… She’s in the back seat of her car.”
The investigation was turned over to Jackson County authorities because it’s believed that the death occurred in that
county.
The Buncombe County Department of Social Services took a report July 9, 2004, that Devin Gibson might have been abused or neglected, according to the department. The allegations were referred to Madison County DSS because the boy lived in that county at the time.
Ashe said the mother might have been homeless before moving to the apartment complex off Merrimon Avenue.
Woodcroft Apartments resident Robert Jackson said he believes Gibson and her son had been living there about six weeks. Jackson was watching Sunday evening when the boy’s body was loaded into an ambulance, and found the mother’s subdued reaction strange.
“I just couldn’t believe the little kid was dead,” he said. “It was too quiet for someone just to find their kid dead.”
Another neighbor, Suzanne Randall, said she often saw Devin playing outside with other young children.
“That little boy was just a sweet little child,” she said. “He was so cute. All the kids around here are going to miss him. I don’t understand how a child could get locked up in a car like that.”
Hall Fletcher Elementary used extra counselors Monday to help the boy’s classmates, who made cards and taped them to Devin’s desk, Assistant Principal Jenny Klein said.
“It’s very hard to be 8 years old and understand all this,” she said. “We explained there had been an accident. It was a hard day, but we got through it.”
Klein said the child had attended the school since the beginning of the school year. She described him as a sweet child who was well liked by his peers and made good grades. His mother walked him into school every day, she said.
David Hunt, administrator at Mountain Trace Nursing Center, said Gibson started work there Saturday. Ashe said she was supplied by a medical employment agency called STAT Nursing Services in Asheville.
“We’re just very distraught about the whole situation,” Hunt said. “Our sympathy just goes out to the family. The staff is taking it very hard.”
William Davenport, owner of STAT Nursing Services, said Gibson had been employed by the company since November and worked as a certified nursing assistant at a variety of long-term care facilities in the Asheville area.
“She was a very good employee by our standards,” he said. “She came through our rigorous background screening quite well. She was very competent in her job. She was punctual and had good attendance.”
Davenport said he doesn’t know anything about Gibson’s personal life, but was shocked to learn of the death of her son.
“I think the world is shocked when something like this happens,” he said. “It came completely out of left field.”
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