NC parents who fled with baby in Chapel Hill arrested. Here’s what they are facing.
The parents who ran from social workers with their baby in late February in Chapel Hill are now in the Durham County jail, according to Durham County Sheriff’s Office records.
They were not charged with taking their baby boy despite being issued a Child Protective Services custody order, a Chapel Hill Police Department spokesman said.
Both parents were taken into custody Monday in the 3700 block of Hillsborough Road in Durham, according to the Durham Police Department.
Justin Lee Brown, 29, of Durham, was charged with resisting a public officer and second-degree trespass. He also was facing three misdemeanor probation violations in another county and several traffic violations, records showed.
The boy’s mother, Destinee Ariel Cothran, 26, of Garner, was charged with heroin possession, resisting a public officer, second-degree trespass, driving while impaired, and a show cause order in Orange County, records showed.
A judge lowered the bond Tuesday on both parents to $2,000 in the Durham County cases. Cothran, however, was still facing a $50,000 secured bond for the Orange County charge, and Brown was facing a $15,000 secured bond for a probation violation charge.
Incident triggered NC Amber Alert
The parents claimed on Feb. 23 that they were taking the boy, then 8 days old, to a pediatrician in Chapel Hill.
However, a 911 caller who appeared to be with Orange County Child Protective Services and was following their car reported watching as the parents drove past the physician’s office, according to previous reports.
Child Protective Services had a court order to get custody of the boy, and the incident triggered a statewide Amber Alert around 6:45 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26.
Police said in a news release that the newborn might be in danger but didn’t say why.
ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner, reported Monday night that a white 1997 Mercury Mystique was found outside a Big Lots store on Southwest Durham Drive. The parents gave the boy to a probation officer near that location in Durham about two hours after the alert went out, according to Chapel Hill police.
The parents weren’t taken into custody at that time, because the baby’s safety “was the top priority” for law enforcement, a police department spokesman said.
The baby is now in the custody of Child Protective Services in Orange County. The county can’t provide information about the baby’s status because the case involves a minor, Orange County spokeswoman Kristin Prelipp said.
History of drug, traffic charges
Court records showed both parents have a history of drug and traffic charges, and Cothran is currently facing an arrest order for failing to appear in Orange County court on driving while impaired and heroin possession charges.
Cothran also received a civil summons this year from the Orange County Department of Social Services, according to a WRAL report.
The summons said “the defendant has failed or refused to adequately contribute to the support or maintenance of” her three other children, ages 6, 5 and 3, WRAL reported.
Brown has a criminal history going back more than a decade, including multiple driving while impaired charges, larceny, assault with a deadly weapon, and hit and run, court records showed. He also has several pending charges in Alamance, Granville, Orange and Vance counties.
This story was originally published March 5, 2024 at 8:53 AM.
