A 4-month-old infant has died after suffering serious head injuries.
Nashville Police announced the arrest of Bobby Randall Conner Jr., 32, on Sept. 23 in connection with the infant's injuries. It's not the first time he's been accused of child abuse.
Conner, who was dating the child's mother, was home alone with the girl Sept. 19 when he called to report she was unresponsive. The baby girl was rushed to Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
"Conner told patrol officers that he was lying in bed with the child while her mother was at work, got up to use the restroom, and upon his return noticed she was unresponsive," police said in a statement.
Doctors told investigators that the child suffered serious internal head injuries, including
retinal hemorrhaging which is indicative of abuse, and said the child was not likely to recover, according to court records.
Conner was arrested Sept. 23 at a Spence Lane motel on a charge of aggravated child abuse. He remains booked in the Downtown Detention Center with bond set at $500,000.
In 2018, Conner was accused of four counts of aggravated child abuse. According to court records, a woman went to do some Christmas shopping and left her two children with a friend. Conner was also at the home. The friend left the home for about 30 minutes to get food, according to court records.
After the woman collected her children, she noticed her 4-year-old "had severe bruising to his face and a laceration to the top of his head," court records said.
"Upon inspecting the child further, the child had bruising on his shoulders, back and buttocks area consistent with a blunt object hitting him," the affidavit said.
Police interviewed the child.
"During the interview the child disclosed that a man named BJ repeatedly beat him with a belt after becoming angry with him," the affidavit said.
Conner was convicted of one lesser charge of child abuse, according to court records. The other charges were dismissed. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
Just last month he was again in court, this time charged alongside two others in connection with incidents from the fall of 2023, court records said. Conner was charged with attempted rape of a then-5-year-old. He was ultimately convicted of child neglect and sentenced to one year in jail on Aug. 6.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville 4-month-old dies after serious head trauma, mother's boyfriend charged
