8-year-old boy killed by drowning – authorities say murder; 2 youths charged

Authorities in the US state of Georgia are investigating the murder of an eight-year-old boy after several weeks of saying the boy’s death appeared to be an accident.

According to WSAV 3, WTOC and First Coast News, police officers found the body of 8-year-old Noah Bush in a dig pit in Jesup, Georgia on May 16.

Police initially said there was no evidence of foul play in Noah’s death (WJCL, WTOC and First Coast News). Weeks later, however, their assessment changed.

A coroner determined that Noah’s death was homicide and the cause of death was drowning. WJCL, WTOC and First Coast News,

Wayne County authorities have now filed charges against two children, ages 10 and 11, in connection with Noah’s death, First Coast News, WJCL and ABC Chicago reported, citing the local sheriff’s office.

According to WSAV and WJCL, authorities also arrested 35-year-old Natalie Hardison, the mother of one of the two arrested children, and faces three charges.

Online court records from the sheriff’s district show Hardison was arrested on Wednesday, July 10. He is charged with making false statements, violating probation and failing to send children between the ages of 6 and 16 to school. Under the law, parents are responsible for sending children in that age group to school.

Noah was reported missing on May 15 after he was last seen in Jesup a few hours earlier, according to Wayne County authorities, WJCL reported at the time. His body was found the next morning.

Although police initially claimed his death was entirely suspicious and that he had drowned by accident, Noah’s family insisted from the beginning that foul play had taken place, according to WJCL.

“I want answers,” his mother, Demetrice Bush, said at the time, according to the outlet. “I want to know what happened to him. I want to know who hurt him.”

His sister Alayzia McClinton said: “My brother apparently jumped into a stream and drowned, but my brother didn’t like water.”

The allegation of a crime arose after Wayne County authorities asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate Noah’s death.

“This finding was based on the fact that one of the two juveniles who were with Noah had pushed him into the deep part of the excavation pit in which they were wading,” the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

The Bush family’s attorney spoke to ABC Chicago and claimed, “Noah and the two juveniles involved got into an argument, and the argument resulted in them pushing Noah into the water and possibly holding his head underwater.”

“(Noah) went out with people he believed were his friends and trustworthy,” Johnson said, according to WTOC.

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In Georgia, charges against juveniles are not publicly recorded, WTOC reported.

Johnson said authorities charged the two boys with trespassing and covering up a death, First Coast News reported. The 11-year-old faces additional charges, including manslaughter.

It was not immediately clear whether Hardison and the children have entered a confession or hired lawyers.