On March 31, 2021, at approximately 11:35 p.m., officers with the Goldsboro Police Department were dispatched, along with Wayne County EMS, to the 1200 block of Day Circle for an unresponsive child. The 2-year-old child was transported to the Wayne-UNC Health emergency department where she was pronounced deceased. Members of the Goldsboro Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division responded to the scene and initiated and investigation.

On April 5, as a result of the investigation, a warrant was secured on Rodgerick Alando Jones, 31, for an open count of Murder regarding the death of the 2-year-old child. On April 5 at 12:15 p.m., Mr. Jones was taken into custody by members of the Criminal Investigations Division and the Warrants Division at the Goldsboro Police Department. Mr. Jones was placed in the custody of the Wayne County Detention Center with no bond, pending his first appearance.

On August 11th the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) released the report of autopsy examination in the death of 2-year-old A’Nylah Zamora Barnes who died March 31. was arrested April 5 and charged with her murder. The OCME’s report lists the cause of death as blunt force injuries of the abdomen and the manner of death as homicide.