NC - Father Charged in Murder of Lila Pickering, 9 Sept 2016

Seth Willis Pickering, 36, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He was booked into the Buncombe County Detention Center.

The victim's name was not released.

U.S. Park Service rangers shut down the parkway from Brevard Road to Hendersonville Road.

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Search warrants from a murder investigation on the Blue Ridge Parkway revealed that the victim is a juvenile.

The name of the victim is not being released because juvenile information is protected.

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A spokeswoman with the FBI said a portion of the Parkway was closed for several hours before reopening around 1 a.m. Saturday morning.

The FBI, National Parks Service and Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the killing.

The homicide investigation is near mile marker 393.

The Parkway had been shut down

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A section of the Blue Ridge Parkway was shut down as the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation into a homicide on Friday night.

An FBI agent confirmed the Blue Ridge Parkway was shut down between Brevard Road and Hendersonville Road. The roadblock was allowing forensics to preserve evidence, according to an FBI spokesperson.

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ninij9 said:

He killed *************. I wonder why it's so hush hush. I'm guessing they haven't been able to alert the mom yet? So sad.

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393.6: NC 191 Crossover. 6 miles north to Asheville. 20 miles south to Hendersonville.

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Gardener1850 said:

Edited by me. That's only what the rumors are at this point. I agree it's strange they are keeping the victim's name quiet.

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ninij9 said:

It's actually now been updated that he's killed his daughter. You can never really go by social media, but he seemed to dote on her very much. I am understanding this world less and less.

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A Leicester man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his daughter, a kindergartner at Johnston Elementary, who was killed along a popular section of the Blue Ridge Parkway.Buncombe County sheriff’s investigators charged Seth Willis Pickering, 36, in the death of 6-year-old Lila Marie Pickering.

He was arrested along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Brevard Road at about 7 p.m. Friday, according to an arrest report.

About an hour earlier, deputies learned Lila had been taken by her father, and were in the process documenting the case to trigger an Amber Alert, said Capt. John Elkins of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.

Ashley Pickering said her daughter had been in the care of protective services.

“We had a deputy at a home in west Buncombe County after we received a report that the father had taken the child without permission,” Elkins said. “As the deputy was there, we learned of the homicide.”

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“She was a lively little girl who loved animals and the outdoors,” said Cindy Dabill, Lila’s grandmother.

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Hours before her 6-year-old daughter was killed, Ashley Pickering said she chatted with a Buncombe County child protective services worker, who assured her the bubbly first-grader was doing well.“I just spoke with her case worker yesterday (Friday) and she said she was happy and healthy and in a great home, and they were going to work on getting her back down here,” Pickering said from her Florida home.

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“A detective called at 2 in the morning and asked if I was Ashley Pickering, wife of Seth Willis Pickering, mother of Lila Marie Pickering, and I said, ‘Yes,’ ” she remembered. “They said, ‘It is with heavy hearts we regret to inform you that your daughter’s deceased and Seth’s been arrested for first-degree murder.’

“What they said to me just keeps playing in my head like a broken record.”

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Public records indicate Seth Pickering had recently lived in Brevard County, Fla., but according to his estranged wife, he brought his daughter to Buncombe County last year, beginning a custody dispute.

“My husband and I separated because he was abusive, and we were working on getting her back down here,” Ashley Pickering said. “She was in protective custody. I don’t know how he got her near her. It’s been one nightmare after another after another. For 15 months, we’ve been fighting this.”

Lila had recently been placed in another home after Pickering had a violent dispute with another person, according to Ashley Pickering. But despite the conflict, she said she never believed Lila was in danger.

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Gardener1850 said:

Read much more at link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...BlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories

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Tillicum said:

From your link

“He was the most loving father and Lila worshiped the ground he walked on. She loved her daddy so much,” Pickering said. “She would jump in his lap and smile and laugh and be so happy when he was holding her.” :tears:

RIP Lila :rose:

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“She was sitting on the step, rocking back and forth and screaming at the top of her lungs, ‘mom, bring Lila back! It's a lie! It's a lie! It's not true!’” Dabill said
Now, Lila’s mom is in the hospital after a breakdown and possible heart issues relating to her daughter's death. The girl's family in Spring Hill is seeking answers from North Carolina authorities. They want Lila’s death to be a call to action so this doesn't happen to any other child.
It's too late now for Lila, but hopefully, through this, some law can change or something can change where the kids are gonna be safe,” Dabill said

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