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 insisted.
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 an attorney for the family, Francys Johnson, said the Bushes are calling for the arrest of any adults who may have had 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 May 16, a day after he was reported missing, in a borrow pit filled withwater near his home in Jesup, Georgia, law enforcement and Johnson have said. A borrow pit is an area where material like dirt or soil has been dug out for use at another site.
He was last seen hanging out with a 10-year-old, whom he had known for a few months and considered a friend, and an 11-year-old he’d met that day, Johnson said.
“At some point, they pressured Noah to go down to the borrow pit,” said Johnson, who has met with the district attorney and viewed the evidence.
“It’s a deep, canyon-like place. And in the low places, water fills up in it, like swimming-pool sizes of water,” he said, adding that the area is in “total disrepair” with fences and gates broken down, allowing access to people.
Johnson said an argument ensued between the boys, and he “was pushed into the water by the older juvenile.”
The sheriff’s department said at the time that his death was an accident and that no foul play was involved. But family members disputed that finding, arguing that Noah was afraid of water and would not have gone near it, according to NBC affiliate First Coast News. Hundreds of people protested the department’s findings in the days after Noah’s death.
“She always believed that there was more to this,” Johnson said of Noah’s mother. “I don’t know if I recall anybody who’s been more regretful that they were right.”
The sheriff’s office reversed course nearly two months after the boy was found dead, saying in a news release that Noah’s death had been ruled a homicide after it was discovered during the investigation that one of the boys “pushed him into the deep portion of the borrow pit they were wading in.” 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 about Johnson's allegations.
The two boys were arrested July 10 in connection with Noah’s drowning, the sheriff’s department said in a statement. The 11-year-old has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, simple battery, concealing the death of another and criminal trespass, while the 10-year is charged with concealing the death of another and criminal trespass. The boys have not been publicly named because of their age.
Natalie Hardison, the mother of one of the boys, was also arrested on July 10 on a felony charge of making false statements, as well as a probation and truancy charge, both misdemeanors, according to the sheriff’s office. Chief Deputy Mike Hargrove, of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, said Hardison had "lied" about her whereabouts at one point during the investigation. Hardison has remained jailed since her arrest, according to the sheriff’s office’s website. There is no attorney listed for her in court records.
The arrests of the boys came 55 days after Noah's body was found.
“The sheriff had the statements of these boys from within 48 hours of Noah’s drowning. So to let this mother be led to believe that this was an accidental drowning for that long and to 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 “tight-knit” but impoverished trailer-home community.
“Noah’s family didn’t come from any great means, but neither are the people who are accused of his manslaughter,” Johnson said.
Noahs’ mother believes the sheriff’s office almost overlooked her son’s death as a homicide and criticized the sheriff’s office’s handling of the investigation, Johnson said
“It is her belief that, ultimately, her child didn’t matter to them,” he said.
Noah was Black. Johnson said the two boys who were arrested are white.
The sheriff’s department did not respond to questions from NBC News about the family's allegations.
“There may be others who are involved in concealing the actions of the 10 and 11 year old and everyone who was involved in that, who was a party to those crimes, should be held to account,” Johnson said.
But he said the family is grateful to the local district attorney for ultimately deciding that the two boys and one of their mothers should face charges. The Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney said it does not comment on ongoing prosecutions.
Hargrove said the investigation is ongoing.
“It’s still open and we’re still looking into it,” he said.
