A guardian appointed by the court in North Carolina faces serious allegations of fatal child abuse, with authorities claiming she, along with two other adults, subjected a six-year-old girl to severe mistreatment. Police report that the child was “duct taped” and starved for more than a year as punishment for various reasons, including eating. Additionally, she was allegedly confined to a dog crate.

Susan Robinson, aged 61, was taken into custody on Saturday, facing one charge of intentional child abuse leading to severe physical harm, along with four charges of misdemeanor child abuse. Meanwhile, authorities are still searching for the other adults in the Mecklenburg County home, identified as Tonya McKnight and Tery’n McKnight.

Investigators reveal that the three adults lived in appalling conditions alongside at least five children, acting as their primary caregivers. The young victim, Dominique Moody, passed away earlier this month, with hospital records indicating she weighed a mere 27 pounds, as detailed in an arrest affidavit. The remaining children are aged 5, 4, 2, and 1.

The affidavit claims, “Tery’n McKnight, Susan Robinson, and Tonya McKnight … are the primary caregivers.” It further describes the deplorable state of the household, where children lived amidst rats and cockroaches, suffered rat bites, and endured daily life without heating. It also notes that the duct taping was common knowledge among the three.

Police have obtained photos from a suspect’s phone showing Dominique bound with black duct tape, with her hands and feet swollen, lying on the carpet in the living room shortly before her death.

Robinson and the others allegedly abused Dominique for approximately a year and a half, doing things like forcing her to watch them eat as she sat in a “soiled, urine and feces-filled diaper for days and days,” the affidavit says. The girl had an “extreme rash” because of this and was found to have multiple serious injuries, including wounds from the rash, broken bones, scars, and burns, according to police.

“The victim was extremely small,” the affidavit says. “She had a healed ligature mark going all the way around her right ankle and linear healed scars on top of her right arm. On top of her right foot and outer right leg were healed circular scars. The victim had an open circular wound on the outer left ankle, which appeared to be a burn. She had various minor open wounds on her knees, face, arms, and legs.”

An examination of Dominique’s body showed a “fracture to the right pinky toe, which was older and healed,” according to police. She also had multiple lower rib fractures on both sides of her body.

“These fractures were newer, but in various states of healing,” the affidavit says.

“Susan advised that she has seen Dominique Moody, duct taped, left without food, in soiled diapers, for days, and refused to assist, call 911, or report that abuse and neglect,” the document adds. “The residence was cluttered, and numerous rats were scurrying through it. The residence had a mixture of animal and human feces throughout.”

According to police, the oven in the kitchen, a space heater in the living room and a space heater in a bedroom were the only sources of heat for the children. The space heater in the living room sat on a concrete block on the floor, pointed towards a cot in front of a couch.

“The low temperature during overnight hours was 20 degrees,” the affidavit says.

Robinson was court-appointed by the Department of Social Services, which did not respond to Law&Crime’s request for comment Monday. She was ordered held without bail on Monday and is due back in court on Jan. 9, 2026.