Foul play ruled out in 8-year-old Georgia boy’s sudden death

Published 9:18 am Thursday, January 9, 2020

CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. (AP) — Foul play wasn’t involved in the death of an 8-year-old boy who was discovered behind a northwest Georgia home three months ago, autopsy results from the state Bureau of Investigation revealed.

The body of Bentley Carter Robbins was found by family members in the woods outside of his grandmother’s home in Chickamauga on Oct. 3, news outlets previously reported. Recently released autopsy findings show he died from a head injury sustained during a fall days earlier, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said during a news conference on Friday.

The results confirmed Bentley’s death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head, Wilson said. Multiple family members as well as a school nurse told investigators Bentley fell on a large rock while playing outdoors earlier that week. The doctor performing the autopsy noted that the injury was consistent with the explanation.

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Bentley’s mother took him to the emergency room the day before his death, but they left without seeing a doctor, possibly because wait times were long, Wilson added. The second-grader then went to school the morning of his death, but was picked up after complaining of flu-like symptoms such as vomiting and a fever, the sheriff said. After returning home from school and feeling better, he went outside to play, and later collapsed and died, investigators believe.