An 8-month-old boy is fighting for his life after police say a North Carolina woman running an unlicensed daycare out of her home violently slammed him onto a changing table, leaving him with catastrophic brain injuries.
Brooke Ashley Reiner has been charged with two counts of intentional child abuse causing serious bodily injury, along with a separate charge of operating a childcare service without a license that resulted in serious injury.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the case came to light on July 6 after doctors at a Raleigh-area hospital alerted local police to a child showing signs of “non-accidental” and severe head trauma. Reiner told investigators the infant had just woken from a nap when he suddenly went into a seizure, his eyes rolling back and his body stiffening. She claimed she shook him by the shoulders in an attempt to snap him out of it.
But authorities allege a very different sequence of events. Investigators say Reiner slammed the boy’s head into a changing table and struck him repeatedly in the face, head, and stomach.
The injuries were devastating. Doctors found the child was bleeding internally in the brain and had suffered an actual separation between his brain’s two hemispheres. He underwent emergency surgery, but according to the affidavit, his chances of survival remain “slim.”
Reiner had been running the daycare, which she called Sunrise to Sunset Childcare, from her residence for several months. She had previously described starting the business as a way to stay home with her own child while she worked toward getting properly licensed.
A grand jury handed down an indictment against her earlier this month. She remains locked up on a $5 million bond, with her next court appearance scheduled for August 5.
The investigation remains ongoing as the child continues fighting for his life in intensive care.