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Case for mom charged in child death moves forward in Norfolk

Catherine Seals is charged with felony child neglect after her son is accused of murdering 4-year-old Larkin Carr.

NORFOLK, Va. — Catherine Seals cried as she left court after a judge certified a felony child abuse and neglect charge against her. 

The mother faces allegations stemming from the death of 4-year-old Larkin Carr. Seals' 14-year-old son is charged with second-degree murder in the toddler's death. 

Seals, who was dating Larkin's father, would leave her son to take care of the toddler on occasion. 

Last year, investigators found Larkin unresponsive on November 12 at a home off Sangamon Avenue.

A Norfolk paramedic testified that he found the boy on a couch without a pulse and estimated about 60 bruises all over his body. 

The medical examiner later said he died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen. 

A Norfolk police detective told a judge that Seals told him Larkin displayed signs of sickness in the days leading up to his death. The boy was vomiting and defecating blood and complained of abdominal pain, prosecutors said. It was, again, after Seals' son was the caregiver on November 9th. 

Seals' defense attorney told the court her client did not realize the severity of Larkin's injuries. She testified that the mother gave him medicine and noticed he was recovering. The defense even alluded to the notion of Larkin being well enough to attend school.

The judge decided there was sufficient evidence to move the case forward to the grand jury. 

Seals' son is expected back in court on abuse charges April 15. Prosecutors plan to try the teen as an adult. They are still determining if the same will apply to the second-degree murder charge.  

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