Dad killed 8-month-old daughter while mom was away for school, NC officials say

An 8-month-old girl who went “limp” while in the care of her father was killed, and he has pleaded guilty more than three years later, according to prosecutors in western North Carolina.

“Corbin Lee Nunez, 25, pleaded guilty in Graham County Superior Court to second-degree murder and felony child abuse,” District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said in a Oct. 3 news release.

“Lively Crue Colindres-Nunez died Feb. 12, 2022, from injuries sustained the previous day. ... An autopsy revealed blunt force injuries.”

A motive in the girl’s death was not released.

It happened after the child’s mother left their home in Robbinsville “to attend classes at Haywood Community College,” about a 70-mile drive northeast from Robbinsville, prosecutors said.

“She (the mom) received a phone call from Corbin at about 10:15 p.m., saying that the child had gone limp. The mother told Corbin to call 911,” Welch said in the release.

“The child was taken for medical treatment to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee, but died at the hospital.”

Nunez was sentenced to up to 31 years in prison on the second-degree murder charge, and up to 89 months on the felony child abuse charge, prosecutors said.

Robbinsville is about a 220-mile drive west from Charlotte, near the Tennessee state line.

This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Dad killed 8-month-old daughter while mom was away for school, NC officials say."