A woman accused of murder in the death of her eight-week-old infant daughter has been relocated from the Beaufort County Detention Center to a facility in Raleigh due to security concerns, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

Adrian Porch Mayo, 31, was charged Tuesday with one count of open murder and felony child abuse inflicting serious injury after her daughter, Loralynn O’Neal, died Friday. An autopsy conducted after the infant’s death found multiple skull fractures resulting in trauma to the brain.

Police at Vidant Beaufort Hospital reported the death to the BCSO, which is now leading the investigation. According to investigators, Mayo’s story on how the injuries occurred changed multiple times as she was talking to first responders, hospital personnel and law enforcement.

According to BCSO Lt.Kathryn Bryan, the detention center supervisor, the move took place due to the housing limitations of the facility. Bryant said inmates at the jail are often moved to other facilities for the same reason, and that doing so was not out of the ordinary.

Mayo, specifically, was transferred under a “safekeeper” designation. In North Carolina, defendants who have not been sentenced can be admitted to prison under the designation of “safekeeper” if they are considered too dangerous to hold in county jails while awaiting trial or if being held in a local jail could pose a danger from other inmates or members of the public. They may also be transferred for medical or mental health reasons.

Bryan said that anytime a defendant at the jail is transferred to another facility, the county pays a per-day rate to the facility where they are housed. In this case, it will cost approximately $40 per day for Mayo to be housed at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh.

District Attorney Seth Edwards, in an email Thursday, said his office will be reviewing the case once they receive all the necessary documentation.

Mayo is currently being held under a $1 million secured bond, and she is next scheduled to appear in Beaufort County District Court on July 18. Mayo has applied to be appointed a public defender.

 

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Mother charged with murder in death of infant daughter