It took 55 days to confirm what Noah Bush's family had known for weeks. His death was not an accident, as authorities had initially maintained.
Now the family of the 8-year-old Georgia boy who drowned in a construction pit in May is calling for more arrests and a deeper investigation into the child's death, which has been ruled a homicide, their attorney said.
Two boys, ages 10 and 11, have been arrested and charged in Noah's death. But a lawyer for the family, Francys Johnson, said the Bushes are calling for the arrest of adults who may have played a role in covering up the boys' actions and criticized a sheriff's department that for weeks said Noah's death was an accident.
Noah was found dead on May 16, a day after he was reported missing, in a borrow pit filled with water near his home in Jesup, Georgia, police and Johnson said. A borrow pit is an area where material such as soil or earth has been dug out for use in another location.
He was last seen with a 10-year-old boy, whom he had known for several months and considered a friend, and with an 11-year-old boy whom he had met that day, Johnson said.
“At some point they pressured Noah to go to the loan pit,” said Johnson, who met with the prosecutor and viewed the evidence.
“It's a deep, canyon-like place. And in the low places, the water is flowing in, like swimming pool water,” he said, adding that the area is in “total disrepair” with broken fences and gates preventing people from getting in.
Johnson said an argument broke out between the boys and he was “pushed into the water by the older youth.”
The sheriff's department said at the time that his death was an accident and that there was no evidence of foul play. But family members disputed that finding, arguing that Noah was afraid of water and would not have gone near it, NBC affiliate First Coast News reported. Hundreds of people protested the department's findings in the days following Noah's death.
“She always believed there was more to it,” Johnson said of Noah's mother. “I don't know if I can think of anyone who was more sorry for being right.”
The sheriff's office reversed its decision nearly two months after the boy was found dead, saying in a news release that Noah's death was ruled a homicide after the investigation revealed that one of the boys had pushed him “into the deep end of the well they were wading through.” The Wayne County coroner's office did not immediately respond to request for comment regarding Noah's autopsy.
The sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson's allegations.
The two boys were arrested July 10 in connection with Noah's drowning, the sheriff's office said in a statement. The 11-year-old is charged with involuntary manslaughter, simple assault, concealing the death of another and criminal trespassing, while the 10-year-old is charged with concealing the death of another and criminal trespassing. The boys have not been publicly named because of their ages.
Natalie Hardison, the mother of one of the boys, was also arrested July 10 on a misdemeanor charge of making false statements, as well as probation violations and truancy violations, both misdemeanors, according to the sheriff's office. Chief Deputy Mike Hargrove, of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, said Hardison “lied” about her whereabouts at one point during the investigation. Hardison has remained jailed since her arrest, according to the sheriff's office website. No attorney is listed for her in court records.
The boys' arrests came 55 days after Noah's body was found.
“The sheriff had these boys' statements within 48 hours of Noah's drowning. So to have this mother believe for so long that this was an accidental drowning and not inform the community is just really hard,” Johnson said.
Noah “was the real center of his family's joy” and “full of life,” Johnson told NBC News. His death has left Noah's mother, Demetrice Bush, heartbroken and searching for answers, he said.
Johnson described the area as a “close-knit” but impoverished trailer community.
“Noah's family was not well off, but neither were the people accused of his murder,” Johnson said.
Noah's mother believes the sheriff's office almost dismissed her son's death as a homicide and criticized the way the sheriff's office handled the investigation, Johnson said
“She is convinced that her child is ultimately not important to them,” he said.
Noah was black. Johnson said the two boys arrested are white.
The sheriff did not respond to questions from NBC News about the family's allegations.
“There may have been others involved in covering up the actions of the 10 and 11-year-olds and anyone involved, who was party to those crimes, should be held accountable,” Johnson said.
But he said the family is grateful to the local district attorney for ultimately deciding to charge the two boys and one of their mothers. The Brunswick Judicial Circuit district attorney's office said it does not comment on pending prosecutions.
Hargrove said the investigation is still ongoing.
“It's still open and we're still investigating,” he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
