The North Carolina man accused of shooting a 6-year-old girl and her father after a basketball went rolling in their yard was out on bail in a December case that involved him allegedly assaulting a woman with a mini mallet.
Robert Louis Singletary, 24, appeared in court Friday in Florida, where he was arrested after fleeing North Carolina. He has waived extradition and is being held without bail on a fugitive warrant.
It is not clear if he has obtained a lawyer.
North Carolina records show Singletary was booked into a Gaston County jail on December 2 and charged with first-degree kidnapping, communicating threats and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to inflict serious bodily injury.
Gastonia police said he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend with a mini sledgehammer, kept her inside his apartment and refused to let her out for more than two hours.
Officers were alerted to the incident when the girlfriend called 911 from a local hospital, a police press release state
The victim told detectives that she had been in Singletary’s apartment and that he struck her on the back of the head with the sledgehammer. She said that she immediately felt dizzy and disoriented and that she was bleeding profusely, according to authorities.
Singletary kept the woman in his apartment and told her she could not leave «until she had cleared up all evidence of the assault,» the news release said. She complied and then drove to the hospital after he let her go, she says.
Singletary was held on $250,000 bond but released on December 15, four months before Tuesday’s shooting. The Gaston County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case is still pending. A court appearance is scheduled for May, a Gaston County court clerk said.
Neighbors said the children were playing outside shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday when a basketball rolled into Singletary’s yard. Hailey Martin, 17, said in a phone call that Singletary had been staying at the house for less than a month and was complaining about toys and balls on his property.
The teen, who was outside when the shots rang out, said she believes the shooting was sparked by a ricocheting ball in her yard. Police have not said what prompted the shooting, citing an ongoing investigation.
«It’s sad to see little children scattered, running for their lives,» Martin said.
“This neighborhood has always been peaceful, quiet,” he added. “There are always children running. We don’t care if the balls get into the playgrounds, because the children or the parents will come to bring the toys”.
The 6-year-old girl had a bullet fragment in her cheek and has been released from the hospital, her mother, Ashley Hilderbrand, told the NBC affiliate. NCMC of Charlotte. Hilderbrand was grazed by a bullet, while her husband remains hospitalized. Police said she is in serious condition.
Singletary faces charges of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm.
The Associated Press contributed.