On Feb. 19, just a few days shy of what would have been her 20th birthday, Erica Parsons’ adoptive parents were indicted for her murder by a North Carolina grand jury.
Erica Parsons disappeared in November 2011, but was not reported missing until July 30, 2013. An investigation into her whereabouts uncovered an appalling tale of abuse, which ended with the child’s death.
A Life of Suffering
Erica Parsons was two years old when she was adopted by her new mother and father, Casey and Sandy Parsons.The Parsonses were indirectly related to Erica. Erica’s biological mother, Carolyn Parsons, had been married to Sandy’s brother, though Sandy’s brother was not Erica’s father. Carolyn Parsons had three other children and couldn’t care for another so she asked the Parsons family to adopt Erica to keep her out of foster care.
Erica’s older brother, Jamie, a biological child of the Parsons, was the one who reported Erica missing. Jamie, 19 at the time, had allegedly argued with his parents and afterward, reported his sister missing.
He also testified to a litany of horrifying punishments Erica suffered at the hands of her adoptive parents and their biological children.
Jamie stated that Sandy would often punch Erica in the back and top of her head.
Sometimes Erica was locked in a closet for hours and then punished if she soiled herself. She was often starved, and occasionally fed dog food, Jamie stated.
Autopsy Substantiates the Claims
Sandy Parsons, already in jail on multiple convictions, told authorities that he wanted to come clean about Erica’s fate, the Salisbury Post reported.Sandy Parsons led police to a family property in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, about 80 miles from the Parsons’s former home in Salisbury. There, he led them to a shallow grave containing skeletal remains.
It took the Rowan County Medical Examiner’s office a year to finish its report on Erica’s remains.
“The description of the decedent just prior to her disappearance suggests she may have been suffering from untreated infection/sepsis, rhabdomyolysis, renal failure, or poisoning at that time, all of which could have caused her death.”
The report continued, “Given the history of physical abuse, and signs of physical abuse present at autopsy, we cannot exclude the possibility of a terminal blunt force injury, suffocation or strangulation.”
