Yadkin County toddler death ruled homicide after signs of trauma
What began as a medical emergency on Bob’s Lake Road turned into a homicide case after examiners found non-accidental trauma in 1-year-old Arabella Johnson’s death.
A call for help on Bob’s Lake Road in Hamptonville turned into a homicide investigation after the death of a 1-year-old girl was tied to signs of non-accidental trauma. What deputies first handled as a medical emergency on April 30 is now being treated as a criminal death case, with no arrests or charges announced.
Yadkin County deputies said they were called to the scene in Hamptonville, where first responders and law enforcement performed CPR before the child was taken to the hospital for further treatment. Deputies were assisted by EMS, the Buck Shoals Fire Department and the Yadkin County Rescue Squad, a response that quickly drew in multiple agencies as the child’s condition remained critical.
The North Carolina State Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled the death a homicide. Investigators said they found evidence the child had previously suffered trauma, which is the detail that shifted the case from a tragic emergency response to an active homicide investigation. The Yadkin County Sheriff’s Office, Yadkin County DSS and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are now working the case together.
Family members identified the child as Arabella, and her obituary names her as Arabella River Elisabeth Johnson. According to the obituary, she was 1 year old, lived in Hamptonville, was born July 28, 2024, in Surry County and died Friday, May 1, 2026, at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. WXII reported that a great-grandfather described her as having a “beautiful soul” and said the family planned to hold a memorial service in the near future.
The case remains active, and investigators have not said who was caring for Arabella when deputies arrived or what led them to suspect prior injury. That is the gap still hanging over Bob’s Lake Road: a child who was brought in as a medical emergency, a death that was later ruled homicide, and a community now waiting for the next break in a case that is still very much open.
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