REAL CRIME NETWORK

In a chilling and tragic scene outside Raleigh, North Carolina, 38-year-old Wellington Delano Dickens III made a 911 call in which he admitted he had killed his children — leading deputies to a garage where the decomposing bodies of four of the children were discovered in the trunk of a car. One surviving child was found alive in the home. The horrifying crime has exposed a web of isolation, unanswered questions, and failed oversight in a seemingly quiet suburban setting.

Background

On Monday evening, October 27, 2025, deputies from the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office in Zebulon, North Carolina responded to a 911 call from Dickens who told the operator, “I killed my children.” Arriving at the home in a subdivision near Springtooth Drive, deputies found Dickens’s 3-year-old son alive inside the residence, unharmed. In the garage they discovered a vehicle – a two-door Honda sedan – and in the trunk what were believed to be the bodies of four children.
Dickens has been charged with four counts of murder, three counts involving his biological children (ages 6, 9 and 10) and one involving his 18-year-old stepchild. The victims have been identified in court records and media as: Leah Dickens (age 6), Zoe Dickens (age 9), Wellington Dickens (age 10) and Sean Brasfield (age 18, stepchild).
The children’s mother, Stephanie Rae Jones Dickens, died on April 21, 2024. At the time she was three months pregnant. Her death was ruled natural, resulting from complications of a miscarriage, though Dickens reportedly found her after she experienced severe bleeding the night before and refused medical treatment.

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Timeline of the Crime

According to statements by Sheriff Steve Bizzell and warrants filed in the case, investigators currently believe the killings did not all occur at once but were spread out over several months.
Here is the tentative timeline:

• May 1, 2025: The arrest warrant lists this as the date of the murders.
• May 2025: The 6-year-old daughter, Leah, is believed to have been killed.
• August 2025: The 9-year-old daughter Zoe is believed to have been killed.
• Late August / Early September 2025: The 10-year-old son Wellington is believed to have been killed.
• September 2025: The 18-year-old stepchild Sean Brasfield is believed to have been killed.
• October 27, 2025 (Evening): Dickens places the 911 call, deputies arrive at the home, find the 3-year-old alive and the bodies in the car trunk in the garage.
  This timeline suggests months of concealment and raises deep questions about how four children could vanish from daily oversight in a suburban neighborhood.

Evidence in the Case

Confirmed Facts:

• Dickens made a 911 call admitting to having killed his children.
• Deputies found human remains (believed to be the four children) in the trunk of a vehicle parked inside the garage of the family home.
• The 3-year-old child was found alive and unharmed inside the home.
• The four deceased victims have been identified as Leah (6), Zoe (9), Wellington Jr. (10), and Sean (18).
• All five children were being homeschooled and reportedly not enrolled in the local public school system; the father did not register properly with the state homeschool agency.
  Pending/Unconfirmed Details:
• The cause of death for each child has not been publicly released; the bodies had been in the trunk for so long that identification and forensic examination are ongoing.
• A motive has yet to be established. Dickens has reportedly told authorities the abuse “started out as over-discipline” but how it escalated to homicide remains under investigation.
• The exact date of death for each child is based on investigations and interviews, not definitive forensic timelines.

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Human Impact

What emerges from this case is a portrait of lives lost, a surviving child left behind, and a neighborhood stunned. The victims were children, full of potential and promise, now gone. The surviving 3-year-old is left without siblings and a father facing four murder charges. Neighbors described the household as increasingly isolated following the mother’s death in April 2024. One neighbor said, “I never saw a child outside playing. I never saw him mowing a lawn.”
Moreover, the failure of the system to detect the disappearance of four children—whether through homeschooling oversight, neighbor contact, or welfare check-ins—speaks to a tragic institutional breakdown. The fact that the children were removed from public school and not properly registered raises red flags about accountability. The ripple effects touch extended family, first responders, the surviving child, and the broader community that now must grapple with how this could happen.

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Rumor vs. Fact vs. Speculation

Facts:

• Dickens is charged with four counts of murder after a 911 call and discovery of remains in the trunk of a car.
• The body remains were in the trunk of a vehicle inside the home’s garage.
• The children were homeschooled and not enrolled in the local public school system; father did not register properly.
  Rumors:
• Some social-media posts claim the murders all occurred on a single date in May. But the sheriff has said the killings took place over several months.
• Speculation that Dickens used firearms or knives — in his 911 call he said he did not use knives or firearms.
  Speculation (to clearly label as such):
• That Dickens’s military service (he reportedly is an Iraq War veteran) triggered the violence. While cited by a great-uncle, no public record has detailed service-related trauma as a motive.
• That the mother’s death and the resulting family trauma drove Dickens to homicidal rage. The temporal correlation exists (mother died April 2024), but causation is unverified.
• That homeschooling and isolation created an environment where the children’s disappearance went completely unnoticed. Logical and plausible, but not yet proven in legal filings.

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Strategic / Investigative Considerations

• Oversight gaps: The case highlights potential weaknesses in educational oversight and child welfare when children are homeschooled and not registered. Investigators and policy makers may need to examine how homeschooling regulations and home check-ins could be strengthened.
• Forensic timeline challenge: Decomposed remains in a trunk complicate cause of death determinations and timeline establishment. The state medical examiner’s work will be critical to tying each killing to discrete dates and actions.
• Legal implications: With four murder counts each carrying maximum sentences—including life without parole or possibly the death penalty under North Carolina law—the prosecution’s strategy and defense response will be closely watched.
• Community trauma & prevention: The impact on the surviving child, neighbors, first responders and local social services may elevate this case from an isolated tragedy to a broader community wake-up call.

Conclusion

The case of Wellington Delano Dickens III is an unsettling reminder of how horror can lurk behind ordinary façades—a quiet home, children who were unseen, a father who called 911. While the investigation is ongoing and many questions remain unanswered, the facts already tell a story of profound tragedy, systemic gaps and the utmost vulnerability of the youngest victims.
What do you think? How did four children go missing in plain sight? Where were neighbors, schools, and child-welfare systems? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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