news-record.com

BURLINGTON (MCT) — Two have been charged with involuntary manslaughter after a 24-year-old Mebane woman was found dead in her home the day after Christmas.

Investigators with the Alamance County Sheriff's Department said Saturday they still don't know what caused Ashley Ellen Roland's death. Autopsy results were inconclusive, and the State Medical Examiner's Office is awaiting the results of toxicology tests that could take weeks.

Authorities said they believe Roland, a mother of two, had heroin in her system when she died.

Warrants allege that two people with Roland when she died were Jennifer Kay Porter, 26, and April Gail Gaddis, of Ireland Street, Burlington. They were both charged late Friday with involuntary manslaughter and failing to report a death.

Porter remains in the Alamance County jail under a $200,000 bond. Gaddis is in jail under a $75,000 bond.

Neither authorities nor warrants specify what role Porter or Gaddis allegedly had in Roland's death.

Ashley Roland was found dead by her father, Karl Roland, in her Calloway Drive home at about 8 p.m. Dec. 26. Karl Roland said he received a call from either Porter or Gaddis, who were babysitting Ashley Roland's 2-year-old daughter, Skylah. He said they told Karl Roland that they couldn't reach Ashley by phone.

Authorities said they located the two women and the child on Dec. 27.