Source – Riley Royal and 24-year-old Amanda Royal were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.
They were booked into the Shasta County Jail and are being held without bail, as the Redding Record Searchlight reports.
The case dates back to January 7, 2024, when Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the Royals’ home on the 20000 block of Sunset Lane to perform a welfare check on a two-year-old girl.
“Deputies were unable to contact anyone at the residence and eventually contacted the child’s parents via telephone,” the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office explains in a release.
“The parents told deputies they were not home; however, they were both later located inside the residence attempting to elude law enforcement.”
When deputies were unable to locate the child in the home, they began interviewing the Royals.
The couple appears to have admitted that the child died in their custody in October, and they then illegally buried her.
Detectives also learned the girl had been physically abused.
Another child who was in the home was placed in protective custody, and detectives with the Major Crimes Unit took over the case.
They learned that the girl had been buried near the Whiskeytown Recreation area west of Redding, and along with coroner investigators, they were able to exhume the girl’s body on January 8.
The cause of death was determined to be homicide, though an exact cause of death hasn’t been determined.
Murder charges have been filed, and Riley and Amanda Royal will be arraigned Thursday, October 31 at Shasta County Superior Court.
This is an ongoing investigation and anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Shasta County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit at 530-245-6135
