Julia Leanna Tomlin was indicted on Monday, January 6, 2020 by a Hampton (Virginia) Circuit Court grand jury.

35-year-old Julia was indicted on a total of six felony counts, including second-degree murder in the death of her two-year-old son, Noah Tomlin, who she reported missing on June 24, 2019. Noah’s decomposing partial remains were discovered at the Hampton, Virginia steam plant, which doubles as a trash incinerator. Julia was arrested four days after reporting Noah missing. Her other charges, according to Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell, include concealing a dead body; three counts of felony child neglect regarding Noah and two of her other children; and a newly leveraged count of child abuse involving Noah.

“We had one additional charge, based on the prior injuries to the child prior to his death,” said Bell, although he did not get into specifics.

In December, during a probable cause hearing, 14 witnesses were called to testify to allow the court to determine whether the case would be seen by a grand jury.

One of the witnesses, Brad Bailey, claimed he is the father of Julia’s three-year-old son, Samuel. He told the court, “She had called me the night before like ten times in that day trying to get me to get her heroin.” He testified that he brought heroin to Julia on June 22, at which time he saw Noah briefly in the living room with Samuel and Julia’s youngest child, then-six-month-old daughter Cheyenne.

Another witness, Brian Nolle, said he stopped by Julia’s trailer home on the evening of June 22 with the intention of meeting and introducing his daughter to Noah, because at the time, there was some indication that Brian might be Noah’s father, which has since been disproven. Julia told Brian that Noah was asleep, and she would not allow him to “peep in” just to see the little guy.

FBI Special Agent Liza Ludovico testified that Julia confessed to her during an interview that after she used some of the heroin Brad brought her, she passed out, and when she woke up, she discovered Noah had struck his head and drowned in the bathtub. (Because two-year-olds are known to draw baths for themselves…?) Julia told Agent Ludovico that she tried giving Noah CPR, but when she realized he was dead, she moved him to his bed and shut the door to his bedroom. It was at this time that the Nolles came to visit, which would explain why she refused to let them see him.

Agent Ludovico also testified that Julia told her she put Noah’s body in an empty Huggies box and wrapped the box in black plastic trash bags before calling Timothy Carter to dispose of the “package.” It is not believed that Timothy knew what he was carrying when he placed the little boy’s body in a dumpster. The nature of Julia and Timothy’s relationship is unclear.

Left: Julia Tomlin and Tim Carter in 2010. Right: Tim Carter in 2018.
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Law enforcement personnel were present to testify about the landfill search and subsequent discovery of Noah’s body. One officer, Jerrod Washington, described being forced to step back upon opening the package containing Noah’s partial remains due to the overwhelming smell and sight.

At the end of the three-hour probable cause hearing, the judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to support the charges against Julia and that a grand jury would be the next body to review them, which brings us back to Monday, January 6, 2020, and Julia’s indictment.

Julia’s next hearing is scheduled for Friday, January 10, at which time the date will likely be set for her trial to begin.

Sources: DailyPress, WAVY, WTKR