Mom charged in son’s death
Published 3:51 pm Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Community members in attendance at the Nottoway County Courthouse stand and hold hands as a prayer is said following the indictment of Cyndi Tharpe in connection to the death of her son, James Tyson Tharpe (photo by Morgan White).
Pam Logue, great aunt of James Tyson Tharpe, represents Tharpe by her shirt outside of Nottoway County Courthouse following the indictment of Cyndi Tharpe, his mother, who was charged in his death (photo by Morgan White).
Katie Gaulding represents her aunt, Cyndi Tharpe, who was charged Tuesday with homicide in connection to the death of her son.
The mother of a 5-year-old boy who died in 2017 from blunt force trauma has been indicted on three counts of child abuse and one count of homicide.
A grand jury that met Tuesday at the Nottoway Courthouse returned a true bill on the death as well as the child abuse accusations.
Last March Tyson James Tharpe was found unresponsive by his mother, Cynthia Gaulding, on March 20, 2017. She called 911, but the child could not be revived. In April a medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
Dozens of Tharpe’s supporters were at the Nottoway courthouse Tuesday as the grand jury met.
The indictment was made available through Clerk of Court’s office.
The grand jury’s finding does not expose Tharpe to the possibility of capital punishment. Her bail was set at $15,000.
