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Parents accused of child abuse and homicide plead not guilty to murder

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Two Redding parents accused of abusing and killing their 2-year-old daughter pleaded not guilty to murder Monday in Shasta County Superior Court.

The couple, Riley Royal, 28, and Amanda Royal, 24, were arrested last Tuesday, October 29, on suspicion of killing their two-year-old child and burying her body near Whiskeytown Lake last year.

According to the Shasta County Sheriff's Office, the parents are accused of abusing the child and killing him sometime in October 2023.

The sheriff's office became involved in the case on Jan. 7, 2024, when a witness asked law enforcement to check on the child's welfare, according to the sheriff's office. When a sheriff's deputy visited the home, he was unable to reach the parents.

According to the sheriff's office, officers eventually contacted the Royals by phone and they were located inside the home, where they were hiding from officers.

Riley Royal told a sheriff's deputy that the young girl died in October 2023 and that after her death she was dressed in “a nice outfit,” her body was placed in a pillowcase, she was driven into the woods near Whiskeytown Lake and buried her, the sheriff's office says.

Riley Royal took sheriff's officers to the spot where she was buried. When officials exhumed the child's body, they found bruises, abrasions and broken bones on his skull, face and arm. There was also evidence of burns, according to a sheriff's office report.

Riley Royal told a sheriff's investigator that he and Amanda Royal “participated in severe forms of discipline” against the child, including hitting her with fists, kicking her, burning her with a spatula and withholding food, the sheriff's report said .

He also told investigators that he tied the girl's legs so tightly that they were injured, the report said.

The father told the detective that on an unspecified date in October 2023, the parents placed the girl in a car seat and placed her on the floor of a bedroom in their South Redding home. That was the last time Riley Royal said he saw her alive, the report said.

Riley told investigators he went to work in Yreka, but three days later his wife, Amanda Royal, called him to say the child had died. When he got home, she was still in the car seat, but was dead, according to the report.

The child's body was exhumed on January 8 of this year, and after conducting an autopsy and other medical tests, the manner of death was ruled a homicide, the sheriff's office said.

Reporter Damon Arthur receives story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at [email protected] and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!

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