GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A man charged with shooting a 6-year-old girl and her parents in a fit of rage last month will remain in jail without bond after his first court appearance Tuesday.
Robert Singletary, 24, is accused of shooting Kinsley White and her parents, William White and Ashley Hildebrand, after a ball rolled into his yard on Grier Street just south of Gastonia on April 18. Neighbors said kids were playing with a basketball when it rolled into Singletary's yard.
Investigators allege Singletary shot at another neighbor but missed. Kinsley White was released from the hospital after she had a bullet fragment in her cheek.
Her mother, Hildebrand said Kinsley is having a hard time sleeping.
“She’s having nightmares... saying that man, that man. He’s in my room momma," Hildebrand said. "I think she is going to have a pretty bad scar. He messed up her pretty little face."
Her father was hospitalized in serious condition and Hildebran was grazed by a bullet. White said he has a long road to recovery ahead of him.
"It's hard for me to breathe a lot of times, I can’t walk a long distance, I can't pick up a lot of heavyweights," William said with one hand holding his chest.
Singletary was arrested in Tampa, Florida, when he surrendered to police on April 20 and was extradited back to North Carolina over the weekend. He faces several charges including four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflict serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon.
"In addition to being a danger to the community, he is also a flight risk," District Attorney Travis Page said. "Allegations would show, he removed an electronic device for which he was on pretrial release for, and also fled the jurisdiction to the state of Florida. He has been extradited back."
Page also noted Singletary's previous charges.
"He was also convicted in 2017 of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury which he shot two people in Mecklenburg County and was released in 2020 for those charges that fall within the five-year look back," Page said.
Singletary’s attorney who represents him on other cases did not make a motion on the bond at this time.
"This sort of violence will not be tolerated in this county," Gaston County Police Chief Stephen Zill said. "Our number one priority is to make sure our citizens are safe."
Singletary has been held without bond since he arrived back in North Carolina.
"He needs to stay where he is at," Kinsley's grandmother Debbie White said."He doesn’t need to be in the streets to hurt anyone else. He shouldn’t have been in the streets, to begin with."
Kinsley’s family said they want to see him held responsible for his actions.
"I wish he could have seen my face but as long as he is being held without bond," Hildebrand said.
"I hope the man never sees the light of day," White said. "He doesn’t deserve it."
Contact Richard DeVayne at rdevayne@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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