news-record.com

WINSTON-SALEM (MCT) — A man charged with murder in connection with the death of a 4-year-old boy had previously been convicted of a sex offense involving a 6-year-old girl.

James Columbus Morrison Jr., 36, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Emerson Isiah Cardona. Morrison's fiance, Debralee Anne Matthews, 22, is charged with accessory after the fact.

Maj. Brad Stanley of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office said that EMS was called to a house in the 200 block of Fieldcreek Court in northern Forsyth County late Saturday night. An ambulance took the boy to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center for treatment. Matthews and Morrison went along.

Stanley said that hospital workers became suspicious about the boy's injuries and called the sheriff's department.

Stanley said that the child was still alive when investigators arrived but died before daybreak. Autopsy results have not released.

Stanley said that the boy's mother gave custody of the child to Matthews about a year ago, although he said that investigators have not found any evidence that there was a legal transaction to transfer custody. The mother could not be reached for comment.

Stanley said he did not know how long Matthews and Morrison had been seeing each other, but that Morrison — a registered sex offender who must tell authorities his whereabouts — had lived in the home since June 23.

Morrison was convicted in December 1999 of a second-degree sex offense. Stanley said that the victim in the case was a 6-year-old girl. Morrison was released from prison in June 2004.

Part of the investigation will be to determine if the boy was also the victim of a sex offense, Stanley said.

Morrison and Matthews were being held in the Forsyth County jail without bond.