By ALLEN G. BREED, GARY D. ROBERTSON and JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press
ZEBULON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man was charged Tuesday with four counts of murder after telling authorities that he had killed his children and after sheriff’s deputies found human remains in the trunk of a vehicle in his home’s garage.
Wellington Delano Dickens III, 38, was being held without bond in the Johnston County Jail, according to the county’s sheriff’s office and court records.
Dickens had been charged earlier Tuesday in the death of one of his children, a sheriff’s office news release said. Three more murder counts were filed later in the day, records show.
Dickens called 911 on Monday evening and told the operator he had killed his children, the sheriff’s statement said.
Johnston County deputies responded, and as Dickens had told them, his 3-year-old son was alive inside the residence on the outskirts of Zebulon, which is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Raleigh.
But Dickens also told deputies four of his other children were deceased inside the trunk of the vehicle inside the garage, the statement said.
The deputies discovered what the release described as “multiple bodies” in the trunk and said what were believed to be human remains inside had been there for a long time, the sheriff’s office said. The arrest warrants say authorities believe the victims were killed May 1.
The sheriff’s office said investigators believe Dickens killed three of his biological children, ages 6, 9 and 10, as well as his 18-year-old stepchild. Arrest warrants for three of the counts confirm the victims as 9, 10 and 18. The fourth arrest warrant provided no date of birth for the victim.
Court records show Dickens appeared before a judge Tuesday afternoon on the initial murder charge. Records showed he will be appointed an attorney, but a name was not immediately listed.
Dickens’ wife, Stephanie, died in April 2024, and Dickens said five children lived in their Zebulon home, according to court records from his wife’s estate. Her death came just over a year after Dickens’ father died when his car crashed into a box truck in Lee County, North Carolina, according to court records.
Dickens’ great uncle Charles Moore told WRAL-TV that Dickens was an Iraq War veteran. Moore said he hadn’t seen Dickens in about a year but that he seemed like he was doing fine.
A police cruiser with flashing lights blocked the road leading to Dickens’ address on Tuesday afternoon, with tents from the sheriff’s office and the State Bureau of Investigation erected in the driveway. The home sits in a recently built subdivision of one- and two-story houses. An old farmhouse sits not far from the subdivision’s entrance.
Some neighbors said they barely remembered seeing the family, especially after Dickens’ wife died. Miranda Dorta said she just saw the kids walk to and from the school bus, while neighbor Terry Fuller mowed their lawn a few times when the grass got high.
Although the subdivision’s oldest houses are only about 3 years old, it’s also a tight-knit neighborhood and many people could have helped if Dickens reached out, Fuller said.
“I’ve noticed the kids haven’t been out playing for quite some time, but hadn’t put two and two together. And I woke up to this this morning. It’s pretty awful,” Fuller said.
Previously known for its tobacco market and a railroad that came through town, Zebulon is quickly turning into a bedroom community of the Raleigh-Durham area.
Robertson reported from Raleigh, North Carolina, and Collins from Columbia, South Carolina