On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at approximately 0740 hours, officers responded to an assist medic call for service at 7608 Gwynne Hill Road.
The call for service advised that the reporting person's 6-year-old daughter, Dominique Moody, was not breathing. The victim was transported to Novant-Mint Hill. The victim was pronounced dead at 0929 hours.
The residence at 7608 Gwynne Hill Road is 3-bedroom residence. The residence was extremely unkempt, with strong odor of feces and urine. The residence was cluttered, and numerous rats were scurrying through it. The residence had mixture of animal and human feces throughout.
Several holes leading to the exterior of the residence were also located in the floor and ceiling. The residence had no centralized heat. The oven in the kitchen, space heater in the living room, and a space heater in the bedroom were the only sources of heat.
The space heater in the living room sat on concrete block on the floor, pointed towards cot in front of the couch. The heater was approximately feet from the cot. The low temperature during overnight hours was 20 degrees.
The victim was identified by her guardian, Tonya McKnight, as six-year-old Dominique Moody.
The victim's hair, nails, and body were dirty. She had open wounds and scarring in various stages of healing covering most of her body.
The victim was extremely small reported by hospital staff to weigh only 27 pounds. She had a healed ligature mark going all the way around her right ankle and linear healed scars on top of her right arm. On top of her right foot and outer right leg were healed circular scars.
The victim had an open circular wound on the outer left ankle, which appeared to be a burn. She had various minor open wounds on her knees, face, arms, and legs. The most significant injuries were defects to her genitalia and buttocks. The skin on the inner thighs, genitalia, hips, and buttocks was darkened and wrinkled, with numerous fresh wounds. She also had wounds in various stages of healing on her upper thighs and hips.
The victim was transported to the Mecklenburg/County Medical Examiner's Office. Detectives were present for the autopsy. The Medical Examiner noted that the victim appeared to have healed ligature mark around the leg, genitalia, and buttocks defects were caused by prolonged sitting in urine/feces-soiled items, such as diaper, for extensive periods of time.
The victim had fracture to the right pinky toe, which was older and healed. The victim also had posterior lower rib fractures (ribs 7-9) on the left side, and two posterior lower rib fractures (ribs 9-10) on the right side. These fractures were newer, but in various states of healing.
The Forensic investigators interviewed the juvenile occupants of the residence who were able to speak. The juveniles described Dominique Moody as being forced to live in a small enclosure inside the residence by Tonya McKnight, often being bound with black tape, and being struck with white belt.
They further advised that when Dominique was found not breathing, she was placed in front of the, kitchen stove to warm her up and bring her back to life. She advised that the dog crate was destroyed with hammer and thrown in the garbage can.
On 12/19/2025, search warrant was served at 7608 Gwynne Hill Road. Officers located items of evidence corroborating the forensic interviews.
Susan Robinson arrived at the residence. Susan Robinson was interviewed, and the contents of her phone were obtained. The cellphone showed communications with Tonya McKnight from Friday, November 28th, 2025, at 3:15 PM. The picture showed the victim, duct taped with black duct tape, her hands and feet swollen, lying on the carpeted area of the living room.
She advised that Tonya McKnight duct-taped Dominique Moody as punishment for many things, including stealing food. She suggested that Dominique Moody is forced to watch them eat, and Tonya McKnight does not feed her every day, even though the house has plenty of food.
She also advised that Dominique Moody is forced to sit in her soiled, urine and feces-filled diaper for days and days. This caused the extreme rash on Dominique's genitals and buttocks. This abuse/neglect was reported to have occurred for approximately 1.5 years.
Susan Robinson advised that Dominique is also forced to stay in dog crate in the living room. Dominique broke this dog crate several months ago and, since then, has been sleeping on the feces-filled bathroom floor.
Susan Robinson advised that Tonya McKnight leave her children with her and Tery'n McKnight regularly. Oftentimes, without telling them, she leaves the residence. Susan advised that she and Tery'n McKnight are responsible for the children, alone, multiple times month.
Warrants were obtained, and Susan Robinson, Tonya McKnight, and Tery'n McKnight were all arrested for child abuse-related charges. Evidence was gathered from their phones and through interviews, confirming the duct taping, dog crating, beating, and rat activity over many years of Dominique Moody's life.
The unkempt and inhospitable state of the residence, the children residing amongst rats and cockroaches, the children being bitten by rats, the residence's daily lack of heat, and the duct taping are well known to all three individuals, showing reckless disregard for Dominique Moody's life, which ultimately caused her to die. The wounds from the rash on her genitals and buttocks, broken bones, scars, and burns.
Dominique Moody weighed 27 pounds and was almost 7 years old, showing she was extremely malnourished and starved. Dominique was tortured by being forced to watch the other children eat, being forced to sit in her own feces and urine, in diaper, imprisoned in dog crate or bathroom for days. She was also consistently bound beaten, and/or duct taped as punishment. The evidence gathered through phones, text messages, and interviews shows Tonya McKnight, Tery'n McKnight, and Susan Robinson were aware of the torture and actively participated.
Based on these facts, request that warrant be issued for Tery'n McKnight, Susan Robinson, and Tonya McKnight for First Degree Murder.