Greensboro mother charged with murder after 3 children die in house fire, police say

GREENSBORO MOTHER CHARGED WITH SECOND-DEGREE MURDER OF THREE CHILDREN

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – Brandi Sturdivant, 29, was charged by Greensboro police on Monday with three counts of second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of her three children on December 12, 2022.

On that date, a home on Grimsley Street in Greensboro caught fire sometime before 8 a.m., and three children, a 4-year-old and a set of 1-year-old twins, were trapped inside, ultimately dying of carbon monoxide poisoning from the fire.

Sturdivant, who was already in jail when the murder charges were filed, is scheduled for a court appearance on the new charges on Tuesday.

Dec. 12, 2022

Multiple neighbors who were up on the morning of December 12, 2022, told police they had not seen Sturdivant’s car in the driveway at the Grimsley Street home before 6:30 a.m. when a neighbor leaving for work said they did not see the mother’s car at the home.

Ring camera video obtained from one of the neighbors shows the home with no car in the driveway around 7:45 a.m.

Just a few minutes later, around 7:48 a.m., a neighbor returning home from work saw smoke and fire at the home.

At 7:52 a.m., another neighbor got a knock at the door as Sturdivant looked for help. Ring camera video shows her car in the driveway.

Multiple 911 calls were received about the fire starting around 7:54 a.m., and the Greensboro Fire Department arrived on the scene to a fully-involved fire at 7:58 a.m.

Investigators say that Ring camera footage showed Sturdivant driving her car into the cement barriers at the dead-end of Grimsley Street and making a three-point turn just after 8 a.m., where police made contact with her a moment later. She was taken to the hospital.

Relatives of Sturdivant and the children arrived on the scene and talked with investigators, telling them that Sturdivant had six children, but the oldest did not live with her at the home on Grimsley Street. They also told investigators they had filed multiple complaints with Child Protective Services with the complaints ranging from bad living conditions to abandonment and non-supervision.

Someone told investigators that around two months prior, Sturdivant told them she left all the children at home alone so she “could go out at night.”

Interviewing Sturdivant while on the scene on the same day, documents allege she told them that she and all five of the children slept in the master bedroom.

She said she did not run the baseboard heat in the winter, instead using a stove in the living room to heat the home. She told investigators that she believed the stove may have been the source of the fire.

Prior complaints

According to the warrant, the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services had received several complaints about Sturdivant, dating back to 2016.

Complaints in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and two in 2021 were noted as “unknown complaint, case closed.”

In September of 2022, Greensboro Police Department charged Sturdivant with misdemeanor child neglect stemming from a situation where one of the toddler-aged twins was found covered in feces. GCDHHS removed the children from the home for 8 days but returned them and closed the case.

In November 2022, an unknown person complained about the children being unsupervised. This case was still under investigation with GCDHHS at the time of the fire.

In addition to a complaint filed by the police after the fire, there were a total of nine complaints filed to GCDHHS.

Investigation into Guilford County DSS

The deadly house fire prompted a months-long investigation into the Guilford County Department of Social Services, revealing a pattern of policy violations and forcing DSS workers to make changes or risk losing funding. Some of the violations were directly related to the fire.

Six months after the fire, on May 16, 2023, the State Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to county leaders detailing how DSS workers violated policy. The four-page letter explained how in the case of Sturdivant and her children, DSS workers did not thoroughly address safety, maintain ongoing contact with families, and follow up on safety concerns reported by the mother.

State leaders also cited DSS with a number of policy violations related to 29 other cases and told the county to create a corrective action plan.

In a video on the county’s website, DSS Director Sharon Barlow said the state’s letter wasn’t the first time concerns were brought up.

“Well before we received information from the state, we had our own concerns and had already begun to dig deeper into areas where we felt like there were practice challenges,” she said. “We had already begun to ask our county leaders and county commissioners for additional resources.”

A regional child welfare consultant came to Guilford County in 2023 four times between May and June to help the county create and enforce its plan.

Leaders submitted it on June 16, 2023, with four goals in mind: enhancing DSS’s continuous quality improvement processes, building staff capacity, implementing increased oversight, and strengthening deeper court partnerships.

Less than one month later, the state approved the corrective action plan and came back to Guilford County in October about 90 days later for a first review.

Since the initial report, the county has been 100% in compliance with training requirements, including the completion of back-to-basics training, which social workers highlighted in the county’s video.

“We really have gone back and started to change our outlook on how we do things and being able to implement new tools in each area of child welfare,” said Isaac Dannenberg, a Guilford County social worker.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 1: No Poverty

   • Target 1.3: Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
   • Indicator: None mentioned in the article.

2. SDG 2: Zero Hunger

   • Target 2.1: By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
   • Indicator: None mentioned in the article.

3. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • Target 3.2: By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births.
   • Indicator: None mentioned in the article.

4. SDG 4: Quality Education

   • Target 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
   • Indicator: None mentioned in the article.

5. SDG 5: Gender Equality

   • Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
   • Indicator: None mentioned in the article.

6. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

   • Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
   • Indicator: None mentioned in the article.

7. SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

   • Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.
   • Indicator: None mentioned in the article.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: yahoo.com

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