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15h ago

Sheriff: North Carolina Father Killed 4 Children Over Months as Deputies Find Remains in Car Trunk

Investigators outlined a month-by-month timeline and say forensic identification continues as the surviving 3-year-old remains in protective custody.

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Law enforcement vehicles block Wellington Delano Dickens III's home, where remains were found after Dickens told authorities he had killed four of his children, in Zebulon, N.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)
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Overview

  • Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said the victims—Leah, 6; Zoe, 9; Wellington, 10; and stepbrother Sean Brasfield, 18—were killed in separate incidents from May through September 2025.
  • Deputies discovered the decomposed remains in the trunk of a car inside the family’s Zebulon garage after Wellington Delano Dickens III called 911 to report he had killed his children.
  • Dickens, 38, is jailed without bond on four murder counts after a first court appearance, with a probable-cause hearing set for Nov. 13.
  • The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the State Medical Examiner are assisting with identification and cause-of-death determinations due to the extended time since death.
  • Records show the children were homeschooled; the mother died in April 2024 from miscarriage complications, and a 2016 WakeMed report documented the parents’ refusal of newborn medical care leading to DSS involvement.