North Carolina man arrested for shooting girl, 6, has prior arrest for hammer attack

A North Carolina man accused of shooting a girl and her parents was previously arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.

Robert Singletary, 24, was charged with allegedly opening fire on six-year-old Kinsley White and his father, William White, when the boys went to retrieve a basketball that had rolled into Mr. Singletary’s yard. Kinsley’s mother, Ashley Hilderbrand, was also grazed by a bullet during the April 18 shooting, according to the Gaston County Police Department.

Singletary was taken into custody by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday. He waived extradition during a brief court appearance Friday morning and is expected to be taken back to North Carolina, where he faces four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

It has since emerged that Mr Singletary was out on bail for allegedly assaulting his romantic partner with a sledgehammer in December, on New York Post informed. The 21-year-old victim, who has not been identified as a victim of domestic violence, told Gastonia city authorities that she bled profusely after the attack.

Mr. Singletary allegedly forced her to clean up the evidence of the attack and did not allow her to leave his apartment for two hours. When she was finally able to escape, she headed to the hospital and alerted the police.

Mr. Singletary was arrested on December 7, five days after the incident, and charged with intent to inflict serious bodily injury, kidnapping, and communication of threats. He was released on $250,000 secured bond, according to the court. Mail.

In 2016, Mr. Singletary was also charged with attempt to kill or inflict serious injury. He served three years in prison for those crimes.

Singletary reportedly fled after shootings Tuesday night near Gastonia, a city of about 80,000 west of Charlotte.

Authorities have not commented on what led up to the shooting, but the victims claimed the attack occurred after some children tried to retrieve a basketball that had rolled into Mr. Singletary’s yard.

“We don’t even know the man,” Kinsley, who required stitches for bullet fragments in his cheek, told WSOC-TV. “Why did you shoot my dad and me? Why did you shoot the father of a child?

Her mother also told the station that the suspect had threatened their lives and that her husband tried to get in front of Kinsley to protect her. As of Thursday, White remained in serious condition at a Charlotte hospital.

“She looked at my husband and daughter and said, ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Hilderbrand said.

Her neighbor, Jonathan Robertson, told the Associated Press that Singletary had yelled at the children on several occasions since she moved to the area. Roberston said the suspected shooter came out of his home with a gun and began shooting as parents frantically tried to get their children to safety.

Authorities say Singletary also shot another man, identified as Derrick Kenneth, but missed.