Roanoke Rapids Baby Case DSS | Halifax County Woman Charged with Child Abuse of Baby in Her Care

ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. (WTVD) – A Halifax County woman is accused of child abuse and kidnapping after a complex, months-long investigation, the Halifax County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

The investigation began on June 18, when Roanoke Rapids Police notified the Sheriff's Criminal Investigation Division of a suspected case of child abuse reported to them by the Halifax County Department of Social Services.

The police investigated the case until they realized that the alleged crimes had taken place outside their jurisdiction.

The case began when a child under one year old was admitted to hospital and was diagnosed with a femur fracture and drug addiction.

The case took a turn when DSS contacted police because the child had been placed with a woman who lived within the city limits. Eventually, investigators learned that the woman DSS had placed the child with never got custody of the baby and that a person who owned the child placed the baby in a home outside of Roanoke Rapids city limits.

During the course of his investigation, Detective C. Watkins learned that the alleged child abuse had occurred just outside the city limits of Roanoke Rapids and that the woman who had been supervising the baby was 33-year-old Candice Demetris Davis of Roanoke Rapids.

Davis had custody of the child for a time, the sheriff's office said, but she should not have had custody of the child at the time of the incident.

On Thursday, Davis was taken into custody at her home and served with a warrant for her arrest on two counts of child abuse and child abduction.

Davis was taken to the Halifax County Detention Center and held on $40,000 bail. She was also served with a warrant for failure to appear, which required an additional $500 cash bail.

Davis's court date is August 29.

Provisional custody was awarded to the child’s biological mother.