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A mother and grandmother have been charged with murder and felony child abuse after a 3-year-old child was found dead in a North Carolina motel, police said.

Asheville police said in a news release that Chantarica Nasha Matthews, 29, and Inga Torrence Matthews, 50, also are charged with concealment of death. They’re being held in the Buncombe County jail without bond on the murder charge. Each woman was assigned to the public defender’s office, but a specific attorney hadn’t been named on Tuesday.

Patrol officers were sent to a motel on Monday afternoon in response to a welfare check, the news release said. When officers entered the motel room, they found a small child lying dead on the floor and two women in the room. Investigators said the child appeared to be extremely malnourished.

Detectives believe the women and child had been living at the hotel sporadically over some time, the news release said.

Spokesman Bill Davis said police were still working on Tuesday to find next of kin.

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