Boy whose body found under mom's house death caused by drowning in toilet, affidavit says

The death of a boy whose body was found buried beneath the floorboards of a Lee County, Arkansas, couple's home was from being drowned in one of the toilets in the house, a police affidavit said.

The six-year-old boy, identified in the document as BR, was found buried under newly nailed boards and wrapped in plastic bags by Lee County deputies Dec. 16. A six-year-old girl, BR's sister, was also found by police that day. She was alive, though had "apparent injuries that had scabbed over on top of her head."

The children's mother, Ashley Roland, 28, has been charged with capital murder, two counts of permitting abuse of a child involving serious physical injury or death, battery, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor.

Roland's boyfriend, the 33-year-old Nathan Bridges, faces capital murder, two counts of permitting abuse of a child involving serious physical injury or death, battery, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.

According to a police interview with Roland, which was recounted in a police affidavit, Bridges was putting his finger in BR's mouth when the 6-year-old bit him. Bridges became angry.

"Bridges took BR to the bathroom and, as punishment, repeatedly placed BR's head in the water-filled toilet until he drowned him," the affidavit read. "Bridges cut a hole in their wooden floor, dug a hole in the ground, and buried BR under the house."

Roland told police she was in the living room while Roland was allegedly drowning the boy, but she went into the bathroom after Bridges left it and "saw BR struggling to breathe and his body was limp." She said BR died Sept. 9.

The scabs on the sister's head — which were eventually determined to be burns — were also caused by Bridges, Roland told police.

"...[Bridges] held [the daughter's] head under hot water in the bath tub," the affidavit said. "Roland said that [the daughter] suffered from behavior issues and that Bridges put [her] in hot water as a punishment for her behavior issues."

The daughter was taken to Forrest City Hospital, where the burns were originally identified, and then transferred to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis.

Lee County deputies find body, ASP takes over investigation

Lee County deputies were called to the house at 211 Front Street and directed to the body by Roland's father.

When they found the new floor boards, they pulled them up to find dirt that had recently been dug up and replaced.

"Deputies removed the top layer of the earth and found a child's flip-flop shoes and a red and blue blanket," the affidavit said.

At the scene, Arkansas State Police Special Agent Travis May spoke with Roland's father, Timmy Childers, along with another woman from the area, Rebecca Fiting.

"Childers stated his daughter had told him that BR had recently come out of the bathroom, collapsed, and died. [Roland] allegedly attempted resuscitation and told [Childers] (the boy) was buried under the floor in the hallway," the affidavit said.

Fiting, however, was allegedly told something different by Roland.

"[Fiting] said she had heard something was wrong and came to talk to [Roland]. [Roland] told [Fiting] that BR had come out of the bathroom with his face/body swelling and foaming at the mouth before collapsing and dying. [Roland] told [Fiting] she did not know what to do and had buried BR under the floor boards inside her residence," the affidavit said.

Arkansas State Police went inside to find the body after Lee County deputies handed the investigation off. When ASP removed more of the flooring, they dug up the area around the blanket, finding "an unidentified mass believed to be a small human body wrapped in multiple layers of plastic bags."

The body was taken to the ASP crime lab with the bag still sealed by Lee County Coroner Kevin Caffey for an autopsy.

Roland gave a statement to police, but Bridges did not. They are both being held without bond at the Lee County Jail.

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.