Adolphus Earl Kimrey II, accused of the murder of 3-year-old Mariah Woods in November 2017, reached a plea deal Monday that avoids the death sentence but he will spend the rest of his life in prison. The deal comes just over five years after Woods' body was discovered.
Kimrey was the live-in boyfriend of Kristy Woods, Mariah’s mother.
Investigators have said Kristy Woods told them she put Mariah to bed at their home and discovered the toddler was missing the next day.
Mariah was found dead in a creek in Pender County several days later and an autopsy found that she died from chloroform toxicity.
NewsChannel 12 is reporting that District Attorney Ernie Lee said Kimrey admitted to two inmates that he would use chloroform on Woods to put her to sleep while he used meth and that Kristy Chavez, never knew he was using chloroform on her daughter.
Mariah's mother, spoke after the plea, saying Kimrey robbed the family of milestones they should be experiencing with her – the first day of school, her first dance, her first crush, graduation day, all of her firsts were taken away.