By Shaun Gallagher, WRAL reporter
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North Carolina (WRAL) — Grinning ear to ear in photos from a decade ago are how Sean Brasfield will be remembered by his father.
“Sean was a great kid,” his father said. “Always smiling, just a great kid. Just great.”
But it’s hard to get the images out of his mind of the last six months of his son’s life.
“Knowing Sean was disabled and him watching his brothers and sisters die,” he said. “It hurts to know that he knew and he just physically couldn’t do anything.”
According to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, Brasfield was the last of four children to die at a home in Zebulon. His stepfather, Wellington Dickens III, is charged with murdering all four.
“He’s a monster.”
Brasfield’s biological father spoke with WRAL under the condition of anonymity. The what-ifs are constant in his mind right now. A father, filled with regret for not doing more.
“I should have fought harder,” he said. “I should have taken them to court. But who would have known?”
Eighteen years ago, Brasfield was born ahead of schedule. His father said, Sean was born at 30 weeks and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Life wouldn’t be easy, but he said his son was a fighter.
“He was barely two pounds,” he said. “He didn’t start walking and talking until you know, two or three years old. But he’s always been a very smart kid. He was, until he was seven years old.”
That’s when his relationship with Sean’s mother, Stephanie, soured. It was as amicable as could be. Co-parenting was something they were doing fine with.
Until about 10 years ago. The year Dickens and Stephanie married.
“Whatever influence this individual had over her just took control,” Brasfield’s father said.
Communication all but ended. The father said he hadn’t heard or seen his son during that time. He regrets not doing more, but felt he was being taken care of by his mother.
“She was a great mother,” he said. “She was a great person. I think it was more of [Dickens’] influence that finally broke her, and she was totally different.”
After Stephanie died from pregnancy complications in 2024, he didn’t hear anything from the family or the state about his son. Yes, he wishes he did more to try and get custody of his son but he never could have guessed what the next 18 months would hold.
The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said Dickens killed his 6-year-old daughter in May. A few months later, his 9-year-old daughter was killed in August and later in the month or early the next month, his 10-year-old son.
Sometime in the middle, Dickens called Brasfield’s father.
“Me and him had it out over him taking a blind eye to me not seeing my son for 10, 11 years,” he said. “I let him know, you can’t just call me in the middle of whatever and expect me to do certain things. Y’all been in hiding, and now you want me to come fix an issue that you’re having?”
But ultimately, he put his feelings aside.
“[Dickens] said [Sean] was rebelling and something like that and the other kids were seeing it,” Brasfield’s father said. “He was reaching out to me to help with Sean’s care so I’m like, OK. I got you. Let’s figure it out.”
From birth, Brasfield’s father said his son needed extra medical care. A list of therapists specializing in speech, physical and occupational therapy.
But he feels Dickens didn’t do that because of a distrust he had in the government and medical systems.
“I always thought they were a little off because they went into total hiding,” he said. “I kept Sean on my medical insurance just to see if he’ll use it and pop up.”
That never happened. Any extra care Sean Brasfield needed was not being take care of in his medical insurance’s network. His father said, Dickens’ distrust in the medical system is likely why.
“He would say, I gave him these special things so he doesn’t have seizures anymore,” he said. “Bro, I don’t care about none of that. Why didn’t you take him to the hospital? Why didn’t you just take him to get the care he needed? Just so many other options you could have done. So many different options you could have done and not hurt these innocent children.”
After that call, about a month or two later, Sean Brasfield would be dead with his three siblings in the trunk of a car at that Zebulon home.
Now, all he has are lingering questions for which he’ll never get answers. They are ultimately the questions everyone in the community has.
Why? Why did this happen? Not just to Sean Brasfield, but the other three children as well.
“I know a lot of people are bringing light to my son,” his father said. “But there were three other children who died as well. And, you have a three-year-old with no family. How does that even happen?”
Unanswered questions about the unthinkable, with only pictures of his son as a child to fill the hole in his heart.
While only one outcome for Dickens would make him feel whole.
“I hope he gets the needle,” he said. “I don’t think rotting in prison is good for you. I’m not God. I can’t cast judgment. I let God do what God does but yeah, he deserves a needle.”
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