CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Court TV) — Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for three women accused of torturing and killing a 6-year-old girl.
From left: Tonya McKnight, Susan Robinson and Tery’n McKnight (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office)
Tonya McKnight, 52, Susan Robinson, 61, and Tery’n McKnight, 23, are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Dominique Moody and have pleaded not guilty.
A 911 call on Dec. 16, 2025, reported that Dominique wasn’t breathing; the child was pronounced dead hours after she was taken to a hospital. First responders who arrived at the property described the three-bedroom home as “extremely unkempt, with a strong odor of feces and urine” and noted that rats were visible running through the home. Animal and human feces were visible throughout the property, and there were holes in the floor and ceiling leading to the home’s exterior.
In court documents, detectives said the property had no central heating and was warmed by the kitchen oven and two space heaters. The low temperature on the day Dominique died was 20 degrees.
The child’s body, hair and nails were dirty, and officers noted “open wounds and scarring in various stages of healing covering most of her body.” At 6 years old, Dominique weighed just 27 pounds. “The most significant injuries were defects to her genitalia and buttocks,” investigators wrote in documents reviewed by Court TV, with those areas showing “numerous fresh wounds.” She also had wounds “in various stages of healing on her upper thighs and hips,” the documents said. Investigators added that sitting on soiled items, such as a diaper, for extended periods caused injury and discoloration. An autopsy also revealed a healed fracture to Dominique’s right pinky toe and lower rib fractures in various stages of healing on both her right and left sides.
Dominique Moody (Unity Funeral Services)
When detectives interviewed other children who lived in the home, they said that Dominique “was forced to live in a small enclosure inside of the residence…often being bound with black tape and being struck with a white belt.” The children further reported that “when Dominique was found not breathing, she was placed in front of the kitchen stove to warm her up and bring her back to life.” Investigators said Robinson admitted the child was forced to stay in a dog crate, which was found broken in the trash during a search of the home.
Prosecutors have not revealed the defendants’ relationship to each other or to Dominique beyond saying that Tonya McKnight was responsible for caring for the child. Robinson allegedly told police that Tonya McKnight regularly left the children in Robinson’s care as well as Tery’n McKnight’s care. Detectives said that when they searched Robinson’s phone, they saw communications with Tonya McKnight that included a photo showing the “victim, duct-taped with black duct tape, her hands and feet swollen, lying on the carpeted area of the living room.” The accompanying message allegedly said that the child was being punished.
Investigators said that Dominique suffered “punishments” for about a year and a half at the home that amounted to torture. Those punishments included being starved while being forced to watch other children eat, being imprisoned in a crate or a bathroom for days and being bound, beaten and duct-taped.
All three defendants are scheduled to return to court in November.
