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Two Georgia minors and one of their parents have been charged in the drowning death of eight-year-old Noah Bush.
According to NBC News, an unidentified 10-year-old and an unidentified 11-year-old were arrested on July 10. WJCL adds that the 10-year-old was reportedly charged with “concealing the death of another.” Meanwhile, the 11-year-old was reportedly charged with “involuntary manslaughter.”
In addition, Natalie Hardison, the 11-year-old’s mother, was reportedly charged with “giving false statements” during an investigation. NBC News adds that the charge is a felony, and Hardison also faces “probation and truancy charge[s].”
Furthermore, USA Today reports that the 10-year-old has been sentenced to “two years at a youth detention center.”
According to NBC News, the Bush family attorney, Francys Johnson, previously shed more light on what allegedly happened to the 8-year-old. The lawyer explained that Bush had allegedly met the children hours before his disappearance in mid-May.
“At some point, they pressured Noah to go down to the borrow pit,” Johnson explained. “It’s a deep, canyon-like place. And in the low places, water fills up in it, like swimming-pool sizes of water.”
Per ABC Chicago, Johnson also alleged that Bush was pushed into the pit by the children.
“Noah and the two juveniles involved in this got into some argument, and an argument led to them pushing Noah into the water and possibly holding his head underwater,” the attorney reportedly explained.
The outlet adds that officers are now reportedly waiting for “videos to be enhanced in their investigation,” per ABC Chicago, as the Bush family is reportedly calling for more arrests to be made, per NBC News.
As The Shade Room previously reported, Bush’s body was found in the burrow pit on May 16. The discovery puzzled his family, who noted that the child feared large bodies of water.
Initially, the Bush family was reportedly told that the 8-year-old waded into the water himself. Subsequently, police appeared to rule his death as an accident with no suspected foul play, per NBC News.
Now, as Bush’s death has been ruled a homicide amid the subsequent arrests, the Bush family believes “others” could be “involved in concealing the actions of the 10 and 11-year-old,” per NBC News.
