Amir Devon Hines (RPD)
A 24-year-old father in North Carolina has been arrested after he allegedly killed his 5-year-old nonverbal autistic son, beating the boy so thoroughly his brain hemorrhaged and he was left bruised “from head to toe.” Amir Devon Hines was taken into custody on New Year’s Eve and is facing one count of murder and one count of felony intentional child abuse in the slaying of Karter Holloway, authorities say.
According to a news release from the Raleigh Police Department, officers at about 10:30 p.m. responded to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hospital in regards to a 5-year-old juvenile male who had been the victim of a “serious assault.”
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders were informed by the hospital staff that the child, later identified as Holloway, had suffered injuries that were “consistent with a serious assault and that the assault occurred in Raleigh.” The boy was admitted into the intensive care unit in critical condition.
“Investigators determined that the father of the child, Amir Devon Hines, 24, was responsible for the injuries,” police wrote in the release. “Hines was arrested and charged with Felony Intentional Child Abuse causing Serious Bodily Injury.”
Unfortunately, Holloway succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on Jan. 1. Hines, who was already in custody, was subsequently charged with the child’s murder.
Hines was on parole at the time of his latest arrest, according to a report from Goldsboro CBS affiliate WNCN. He was reportedly released in August 2023 after being sentenced to six years behind bars following a conviction on one count of felony robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Karter Holloway’s grandmother, Tiffani Hines, spoke about the boy, who she said loved superheroes and his grandma, in an interview with Raleigh NBC affiliate WRAL.
“He loved me,” Tiffani Holloway reportedly told the station. “He couldn’t talk. He had words but he didn’t talk in sentences. He had ways of letting you know.”
Tiffani Holloway said that Karter Holloway was spending the holidays with his dad when the alleged beating took place, meaning that the Christmas presents she got for him were still sitting under her tree unopened.
‘I can’t pick them up,” she said through tears.
The grandmother told the station that she spoke to Hines after Holloway sustained his injuries and Hines told her that the boy fell in the shower. However, neither Tiffani Holloway nor the hospital staff that treated Karter Holloway believe that is actually what happened to the 5-year-old.
“Medical reports told us the medical truth,” Tiffani Holloway said. “Which was he was beaten all over. Karter had bruises from head to toe.”
In a social media post, Karter Holloway’s mother, Madi Holloway, appeared to address Hines directly.
“He couldn’t talk (or) defend himself he had autism. I know for a fact he just sat there crying while you beat him for peeing in the bed,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “You are his father. The person he ws supposed to ferel safe with not have to fear you. My baby died with fear in his eyes and heart how can you just sit there hitting him and he’s fawking screaming.”
According to WRAL, Hines appeared remorseless when he appeared in court on Tuesday and the judge told him that Karter had died.
Hines is currently being held on $500,000 bond.
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