The case began with a welfare check and expanded after medical findings about the 13-year-old girl’s death.
HIGH POINT, N.C. — What began as a welfare check at an East Farris Avenue home in October 2025 has developed into a first-degree murder case after a medical examiner ruled a 13-year-old girl’s death a homicide.
High Point police charged Kymberli Bowden, 45, with first-degree murder on Thursday, nearly one year after officers found her daughter dead inside the home. Bowden had already been jailed on two counts of felony child abuse and a charge of concealment of death stemming from the same investigation.
The new charge marks the most serious development in a case that remained open while investigators awaited medical findings. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the girl died from acute necrotizing pneumonia and inanition in the setting of caregiver neglect. Police said the manner of death was homicide.
The case began Oct. 13, 2025, when patrol officers responded to a request for a welfare check. They found the girl dead and a 13-year-old boy inside the residence. Special Victims Unit detectives took over the case and spent the following weeks conducting interviews and following additional information, according to police.
Detectives arrested Bowden on Oct. 30, 2025. Police initially accused her of two counts of felony child abuse and concealment of death. Arrest warrants alleged that Bowden failed to provide adequate food and medical care to her daughter, resulting in serious injury and death. Authorities also alleged that the boy was kept in unsanitary conditions without adequate access to basic necessities.
Additional information disclosed after the medical examiner completed the death investigation focused on the girl’s extensive care needs. Authorities said she had medical problems linked to strokes associated with her birth, was bedridden, used a wheelchair and depended on a feeding tube. Bowden was identified as her primary caregiver.
During Bowden’s court appearance Friday, authorities said the girl weighed 35 pounds when she was found. Investigators also described concerns about the feeding equipment and food kept at the home. Those details form part of the state’s allegations and have not been proven at trial.
The timing of the murder charge reflects the role of the autopsy in the investigation. Although Bowden had been jailed since October 2025, information presented in court indicated that prosecutors waited for the medical examiner’s conclusions before pursuing a homicide count. Police announced the new charge Oct. 8 after receiving the findings that classified the death as a homicide.
Bowden remains jailed in Guilford County without bond on the murder charge. Her earlier child-abuse and concealment charges also remain pending. She is expected to return to court Dec. 18, according to WXII. No one else has been charged in the case, police have said. Bowden is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Author note: Last updated October 10, 2026.