Nickolas Shane Stephenson (Buncombe County Sheriff”s Department).
A 37-year-old North Carolina man is headed to prison for decades after he beat, starved and burned his newborn daughter to the point that her “skin was loose on her body,” authorities say.
Nickolas Shane Stephenson was found guilty of second-degree murder and felony child abuse in the death of his 12-week-old daughter Riley Stephenson, according to the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office. A judge sentenced him Friday to between roughly 27 years and 34 1/2 years behind bars. The jury opted to convict him of the lesser second-degree murder charge as opposed to first-degree murder.
“The evidence in this case was extremely graphic. We are grateful to the jury for their careful consideration of the evidence, which has held Stephenson accountable for the heartless cruelty he inflicted on this most vulnerable and innocent child,” District Attorney Todd Williams said.
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Prosecutors said Stephenson was responsible for Riley’s 2022 death by inflicting torture, abuse, neglect and malnutrition. Riley’s mother, 32-year-old Diandra Fuhr-Farlow, previously pleaded guilty to felony child abuse after originally facing a first-degree murder charge. She testified against Stephenson at trial, per prosecutors.
As Law&Crime previously reported, deputies with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department and Emergency Medical Services personnel at about 2:30 p.m. on June 28, 2022, responded to a 911 call at a residence located in the 10 block of Four Wheel Drive in Candler, some 10 miles southwest of Asheville, according to local ABC affiliate WLOS. The caller — later identified as Fuhr-Farlow — reportedly told the emergency dispatcher that her daughter was unresponsive in her crib.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders reportedly noted that Riley appeared to have visible physical injuries and was emaciated “to the point where her skin was loose on her body,” a warrant obtained by WLOS stated. Injuries included apparent bruising and burns to the infant’s face.
Medics rushed Riley to Mission Hospital on Biltmore Avenue for treatment. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead later that evening.
Doctors reportedly told investigators that the infant had about five separate burn marks covering the back of her head and face. Other injuries included a fracture to her left collar bone, multiple broken ribs, a fractured right arm, and dehydration, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported.
In a subsequent interview with investigators, Fuhr-Farlow allegedly claimed that the bruising was the result of Riley being in the bathtub about two weeks prior and striking her head on the faucet. She suffered the burns when she and Stephenson tried to treat the injury with a hot/cold pack, per the warrant.
“Then they attempted to treat the injuries with Neosporin,” authorities reportedly wrote. “A couple days later, while she was applying the ointment, Riley grabbed the Neosporin cap, placed it in her mouth and started choking. Ms. Fuhr-Farlow was able to retrieve the cap and Riley started breathing normally.”
However, in recently filed court documents obtained by the Citizen-Times, Fuhr-Farlow later allegedly told investigators that Riley’s injuries were the result of physical abuse at the hands of Stephenson. She reportedly claimed that he dangled the infant by her feet several times and shook her until she cried. She also allegedly stated that she had seen Stephenson “choking the victim child” at least once.
In an autopsy report issued in December 2022, the medical examiner wrote that despite Riley being extremely underweight and suffering from “florid pneumonia,” she had no medication and almost no nourishment in her system at the time of her death, WLOS reported. The medical examiner also reportedly noted that Fuhr-Farlow told detectives that Riley had not been eating “for several days prior to her death.”
Charging documents reportedly state that Stephenson physically abused Riley, striking her multiple times and intentionally burning the infant, while Fuhr-Farlow “intentionally and neglectfully” left Riley “in a serious injured state that led to her death.”
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report
