Gastonia mother, grandmother charged after young child found dead in hotel room

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WBTV) – A mother and grandmother from Gastonia have been charged by Asheville authorities after a young child was found dead in a hotel room.

According to the Asheville Police Department, officers were called to the Rodeway Inn and Suites on Crowell Road in west Asheville Monday afternoon for a welfare check.

When officers went inside, they said they found a small child lying dead on the floor. According to investigators, the child appeared to be extremely malnourished.

Two women who were inside the room, identified as 50-year-old Inga Torrence Matthews and 29-year-old Chantarica Nasha Matthews, both of Gastonia, were detained and taken to the department’s criminal investigations division for questioning.

Detectives said they believed the women, who were listed as the mother and grandmother, had been residing at the hotel intermittently for some time.

Both were eventually arrested and charged with first-degree murder, felony child abuse and concealment of death, according to Asheville Police.

The women were taken to the Buncombe County Detention Facility, where they were booked on a $95,000 secured bond on the child abuse and concealment of death charges. No bond was set on the murder charge, police said.

Asheville detectives are making contact with other family members and working closely with the medical examiner’s office as the investigation continues.

Anyone with information is asked to call (828) 252-1110 or text TIP2APD to 847411.