GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A man was given no bond for his role in two shootings on April 18.
Robert Singletary is accused of chasing his neighbor and shooting at him, and then shooting a father and hurting his 6-year-old daughter in Gaston County.
Police said Singletary headed to Tampa before turning himself in. He was booked at the Gaston County jail Sunday night and was held without bond.
No Bond
— Ken (@kenlemonWSOC9) May 2, 2023
Robert Singletary the man accused of attempting to kill 4 neighbors in 2 shootings in 1 night faced a Gaston County judge today. 1 shot went into a man’s back and fragments from that bullet went into his 6 yo daughter’s cheek. Singletary was arrested in Florida. pic.twitter.com/eNppNHepsC
Singletary has been charged with four counts of first-degree attempted murder, two accounts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill or inflict serious injuries, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count of interference with an electric monitoring device.
On Tuesday, a Gaston County judge gave Singletary no bond in the case.
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The little girl’s mother said Singletary is in her nightmares now.
“She woke up last night said ‘mommy I had a bad dream. That man. That man. He was in my room. Just me and that man, mommy,’” Ashley Hilderbrand said. “I just got her where she wasn’t scared of the dark. She is scared of the dark again.”
Victim’s grandmother: ‘Please don’t let him loose’
Channel 9′s Ken Lemon spoke to the 6-year--old victim’s grandmother about the case.
The family said they will be in attendance the first time Robert Singletary faces a judge in Gaston County on his charges of attempted murder. But waiting for answers from the hearing in Florida last week, which was 8 hours and 511 miles away, was nerve-wracking for them.
Carolynn Hilderbrand said she wanted to be there then to deliver a message to the judge.
“Please don’t let him loose,” she said. “Let him have the justice he deserves for everything he has done.”
She worries because in December, Singletary was in jail in Gaston County charged with a violent assault. He got an unsecured bond for that charge. Then on April 18, police said he pulled a gun and twice chased neighbors just off April Drive, shooting with children nearby.
The shooting happened in Hilderbrand’s front yard. One shot went through her son-in-law’s back, and fragments from that bullet went into her 6-year-old granddaughter’s cheek.
“It still goes through my mind a lot and it probably always will,” Hilderbrand said. “Probably never will forget that.”
No one was killed in the shooting, but Hilderbrand said things won’t ever be the same.
“I’ll probably never have no peace,” she said. “I’ll probably be looking over my shoulders.”
Police arrested Singletary in the Tampa Bay area after his family members begged him to turn himself in. Hilderbrand was happy to hear that Singletary’s hearing last week lasted just long enough to affirm a time for transport back to North Carolina.
“He needs to face what he done,” Hilderbrand said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(PREVIOUS: Police look for gunman after double-shooting in Gaston County neighborhood)
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