Doctors removed part of the child’s skull after finding serious head trauma, bleeding and fractures along the spine.
GARNER, N.C. — The emergency medical treatment required to save a 2-year-old child has become a central part of a criminal case against the toddler’s father, who is accused of attempted murder and felony child abuse. Court records say the child suffered a severe brain bleed, retinal hemorrhaging and compression fractures in several vertebrae.
The extent of the injuries placed medical findings at the center of the investigation from its earliest stage. Surgeons removed a portion of the toddler’s skull to reduce dangerous pressure associated with the head trauma, according to reports based on court documents. Authorities have not released the child’s prognosis, but they have described the treatment as lifesaving and the injuries as serious enough to support multiple felony charges. Kiran Pasunuri, 44, is accused of causing the injuries while he was with the child June 2 in Wake County. The publicly available records do not explain the precise force investigators believe caused the brain and spinal damage. They also do not describe a weapon, an accident or a sequence of physical acts. Instead, the allegations released so far focus on the resulting trauma and Pasunuri’s conduct before the toddler received medical attention.
Investigators say the child’s condition should have been apparent. An arrest warrant alleges Pasunuri did not immediately obtain help despite visible injuries, leaving the toddler with continued pain, an ongoing brain bleed and the risk of additional harm. The documents do not specify the length of the alleged delay, who first recognized the medical emergency or who ultimately decided to take the child to a hospital.
Medical evidence may help investigators answer several questions that the initial court filings leave unresolved. Doctors can sometimes assess whether injuries are recent, whether different injuries occurred at the same time and whether a reported explanation is medically consistent with what they observed. No complete medical report has been made public in this case, and no physician involved in the toddler’s treatment has been publicly identified or quoted.
The known injuries affected more than one area of the child’s body. A subdural hematoma involves bleeding beneath the outer protective layer surrounding the brain. Court-based reports also described hemorrhaging in the retinas and compression fractures involving several vertebrae. Those findings prompted investigators to consult medical professionals as they examined how the child was hurt and how urgently treatment should have been sought.
Garner police arrested Pasunuri on June 25 after an investigation that lasted several weeks. He was charged with two counts of intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and two counts of negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. The combination of charges reflects two distinct allegations: that he inflicted severe injuries and that he failed to provide timely care once the child was in an obvious medical crisis.
An attempted first-degree murder charge was added June 27. Unlike the child abuse counts, that charge requires the state to address the question of intent. The documents available to the public do not detail what statements, physical evidence or medical conclusions prompted police to add the more serious accusation. Prosecutors will eventually have to support the charge through evidence presented in court if the case moves toward trial.
The child abuse counts also depend on legal and factual distinctions that cannot be resolved from an arrest warrant alone. The state must prove what Pasunuri did, what he knew and whether his actions or inaction caused the injuries described in the charging documents. A defense attorney may examine the medical records, seek independent expert review and challenge whether the state can establish the required mental state for each offense.
Police have said they are working with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office and medical personnel. That collaboration is significant because criminal investigators can document the scene and interview witnesses, while doctors can explain the physical condition of the patient and the urgency of treatment. Prosecutors then evaluate whether the collected evidence supports the filed charges and whether additional investigative work is needed.
Publicly released information does not identify the hospital in every report, though some coverage has said the child was treated at WakeMed. Authorities have not published a medical chronology showing when the toddler arrived, when diagnostic imaging was completed or when surgery began. They also have not stated whether the child was conscious, able to communicate or experiencing other symptoms before being brought for treatment.
Those unanswered questions are important because the case includes an allegation of delayed care. Establishing such a delay generally requires more than proving that a child was seriously injured. Investigators would need to reconstruct when the trauma likely occurred, when Pasunuri became aware of the toddler’s condition and whether a reasonable caregiver would have recognized the need for immediate medical assistance. The current filings provide allegations, not the full evidence that may be offered in court. Pasunuri has been ordered not to contact the child. Reports citing court records said he was held in the Wake County Detention Center under a $200,000 secured bond, although separate coverage indicated that the attempted murder charge may have carried no bond. The complete current conditions of confinement could not be independently confirmed from a later official filing.
Authorities have not said whether anyone else was present when the child was injured or during the period before hospital treatment. No other person has been publicly charged in connection with the case. Police have also not disclosed whether they obtained surveillance video, telephone records, messages or statements from relatives or neighbors. Such material, if it exists, could help establish the sequence of events. The toddler’s identity has not been released, consistent with the protection generally given to minor victims in abuse cases. The child’s sex also has not been consistently stated in the available records. News reports have therefore used gender-neutral language and avoided publishing information that could identify the child or other private family members.
The criminal proceedings remain at an early stage, and the medical allegations have not been tested through testimony or cross-examination. Pasunuri is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Early reports listed a July 20 court date, but no authoritative account of that hearing’s outcome was located. The investigation remains active, and officials have not released a new statement on the child’s condition.
Author note: Last updated July 26, 2026.