ROCKINGHAM — A court-appointed attorney has filed a motion to be removed from the case due to a conflict of interest.
Court documents show that Hamlet-based attorney Derek Crawford was appointed on June 26 to represent Kevin Orlando Bowe.
Bowe, 26, is charged with with a single felony count of negligent child abuse with serious bodily injury.
An arrest warrant alleges that Bowe was providing care to or supervision of a child under the age of 16 and committed a “grossly negligent omission …. which…showed a reckless disregard for human life, and resulted in the death of the child.”
Rockingham Police Chief George Gillenwater did not release any details about the case, other than that the child was less than a year old.
Bowe was arrested June 24 and initially held without bond. On the same day Crawford was appointed as his attorney, Bowe was given a $15 million secured bond.
Crawford notes in his motion that he is a relative of the victim in the case and that the defendant “is entitled to have an appointed attorney to counsel and to represent him/her in this matter at the present time.”
The motion is set to be heard on July 9.
Online court records show a disposition hearing is scheduled for that day. The next court date for the case is scheduled for Aug. 22.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
