Zebulon neighbors grapple with shock, mourning after deaths of four children
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Neighbors react after 4 children discovered deceased in Zebulon neighborhood
- The children’s father allegedly confessed to killing them over months, investigators say
- Investigators secured a surviving toddler and continue to investigate. Motive is unknown
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4 children killed in Johnston County
A man in Zebulon, NC, is charged with four counts of murder after he confessed to killing four of his children, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said Oct. 28, 2025. Here is ongoing coverage.
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Rachel Ross woke up Wednesday and told her mother, Debra Riley, they needed to do something after seeing the tragedy that unfolded next door.
Only the day before, Ross and Riley woke up to police cars blocking off their street as deputies removed four bodies from the car trunk of their neighbor, Wellington Dickens III.
The bodies were Dickens’ children: 6-year-old Leah Dickens, 9-year-old Zoe Dickens, 10-year-old Wellington Dickens IV and 18-year-old stepson Sean Brasfield.
They were the same children Ross and Riley gave snacks to the day their mother, Stephanie Rae Jones, died from pregnancy complications last year and police wouldn’t let them inside the house as they investigated.
The same children Ross saw chasing each other or playing with their dad in their backyard, even after Jones’ death.
“Every time we did see an interaction with him with the kids, he seemed very loving, very playful,” Ross said.
To learn that Dickens had confessed to killing his kids over several months and now faces four charges of first-degree murder shocked Ross. Something was telling her on Wednesday morning that she and her mother needed to do something.
So Ross and Riley bought four red heart-shaped balloons and a teddy bear and took them to the front porch no longer blocked off by police tape or anything resembling a crime scene — just two stakes in the ground of the front lawn.
Deondra Crudup, another neighbor, had just put down flowers and a couple of teddy bears. Ross and Riley placed the balloons and bear on the porch and stood in front of the steps, silent for a moment.
“Even though that they’re no longer here, it just shows you, you’re gone, but you’re never forgotten,” Ross said.
‘It kind of didn’t really dawn on us’
Harvest Meadows, the neighborhood, is on the outskirts of Zebulon and roughly 25 miles east of Raleigh. Small and sprawling and in the middle of the countryside with acres of open space and few trees, neighbors described it as an otherwise peaceful community.
Crudup said residents are supportive but keep to themselves. Riley said neighbors hold community events on occasion, including a hot chocolate truck last winter.
Dickens had greeted Riley when her family moved into the neighborhood, she said. Riley and Dickens had chit-chatted a couple of times, but said neither Dickens nor Jones were “overly friendly.”
When Jones died last year, a group of neighbors organized a meal train for Dickens and his family. Riley made them a huge pot of chicken and rice. Dickens was very appreciative of the offer, Riley said. She asked him if he had anyone to support him, but he told her he and his family were not on speaking terms.
After Jones’ death, Riley said they saw Dickens and his children less and less. A visitor — Ross said it was Dickens’ mother — came over for a few weeks after Jones’ death.
Then, they never saw her again.
What law enforcement said happened
In a Wednesday news conference, Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said Dickens told investigators in interviews what had allegedly happened to his children. Dickens told them that he had allegedly killed Leah in May, Zoe in August, Wellington IV in late August or early September, and Sean in September, Bizzell said.
A fifth child, Dickens’ 3-year-old son, is safe and in the custody of the Department of Social Services.
Investigators don’t yet have a motive for the killings, Bizzell said. When Dickens confessed on the 911 call, Dickens claimed God influenced him to kill his children. He said that he didn’t use weapons but admitted to beating and starving his kids — resulting in their deaths.
All the kids were homeschooled, Bizzell said. The News & Observer could not find any records of a homeschool administrator operating under Dickens’ or his late wife’s names in state records Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Johnston County school system said none of the Dickens children attended public school in the county.
This summer, Riley and Ross never saw the children. Crudup, who lived around the corner, said she was slightly concerned that she no longer saw the children as she drove past the house, but she didn’t know what was going on.
Ross said the only times they saw Dickens was when he took the trash to the curb and back inside.
“It kind of didn’t really dawn on us in a sense,” Ross said. “Since the passing of the mom, they [be]came very confined and private, so just staying inside, blinds closed, not making a peep.”
Riley said she was shocked to learn how long Leah reportedly had been dead — since May. Her family had no idea.
“I guess these days and times, a lot of people keep to themselves,” Riley said. “You know, we don’t check on our neighbors as we should.”
Lexi Solomon contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
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