A judge sent the case against Bobby Randall Conner Jr. toward a grand jury after hearing witnesses describe Nevaeh Petty’s final day.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — What began Sept. 19 as an emergency call for an unresponsive 4-month-old child has developed into a criminal case involving medical evidence, contested testimony and questions about how a man with previous child-abuse convictions came to be caring for the infant.
A Davidson County judge ruled Oct. 6 that prosecutors had presented enough evidence for the case against Bobby Randall Conner Jr., 32, to proceed to a grand jury. Conner had been arrested after Nevaeh Petty suffered devastating head injuries while he was caring for her at a North Nashville home. The preliminary hearing supplied a more detailed account than the initial police release, including testimony from a woman at the residence, an officer who tried to revive the baby and a detective who later attended the autopsy. Defense lawyers disputed prosecutors’ claim that the evidence showed Conner caused the injuries. The judge did not decide guilt, only that the case could move forward.
The timeline began shortly before 5 p.m. Sept. 19, when Metro Nashville police officers responded to a residence on 24th Avenue North. Police said Nevaeh was unresponsive and was rushed to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in very critical condition. Conner told patrol officers that he had been lying in bed with the infant while her mother was working. According to the police account, he said he got up to use the restroom and discovered that the child was unresponsive when he returned. That explanation became one of the first pieces of evidence investigators examined as doctors assessed the cause and severity of Nevaeh’s condition.
Medical testing changed the direction of the investigation. Nashville police said Vanderbilt doctors reported serious internal head injuries, including retinal hemorrhaging, that were indicative of abuse. Detectives arrested Conner on Sept. 23 on an aggravated child abuse charge. He was found at a motel on Spence Lane, and a judicial commissioner set his bond at $500,000. The police department announced that same day that Nevaeh had died at the hospital and that Youth Services detectives planned to consult the district attorney’s office about upgraded charges. Some later news reports described Conner as facing murder, although the Oct. 6 court reporting identified the charge being considered at that hearing as aggravated child abuse.
The preliminary hearing added a witness account from inside the residence. A woman who was staying at the home testified that she heard Conner yelling at the crying infant during the day. Her testimony did not itself establish when Nevaeh’s injuries occurred, but prosecutors used it as part of their argument about the circumstances surrounding the child’s condition. A responding officer also testified about finding Nevaeh in distress and attempting CPR. The officer became emotional while recalling the effort to resuscitate the infant. The testimony offered the court a firsthand description of the emergency response without resolving the central disputed question of who inflicted the injuries.
A Metro Nashville police detective testified about seeing Nevaeh at the hospital and later attending the autopsy. According to reporting from the hearing, the detective described significant bleeding in the infant’s brain. Prosecutors said Nevaeh suffered major brain swelling and injuries consistent with abusive head trauma, often called shaken baby syndrome. They argued that the evidence pointed to Conner because he was caring for the baby when she became unresponsive. Defense attorneys challenged that inference, telling the court that the prosecution had not established that Conner was the person who caused the injuries. That dispute is expected to remain central if the case advances through indictment and toward trial.
Conner’s criminal history was known before his latest arrest. Metro Nashville police said he had been convicted of child abuse in August 2020 and sentenced to four years. The department also said he was convicted of child neglect after a March 2025 arrest and received a one-year sentence. Local news reports said he was released in August 2026. The proximity of that release to Nevaeh’s death became an immediate focus after both of the infant’s parents said they knew about the earlier convictions. The prior convictions are separate from the current allegations and do not prove that Conner committed the acts prosecutors now attribute to him.
Nevaeh’s father, Edward Wagner, said he had objected to Conner being around his daughter before the Sept. 19 emergency. Wagner told WSMV that he warned Nevaeh’s mother, Jessica Petty, and contacted the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. According to Wagner, the department performed a welfare check and found Nevaeh unharmed. He also said he was told Conner was not a sex offender and could remain around the child. DCS has not confirmed Wagner’s description of those contacts, saying state confidentiality law bars the agency from discussing whether it received reports involving a particular child or family.
Petty has also pointed to DCS while explaining why Conner was allowed to care for Nevaeh. She told NewsChannel 5 that she believed the agency had approved his presence around the infant. Petty said she did not harm her daughter and argued that DCS should explain why Conner was permitted to be around the child. She acknowledged knowing his history but gave no answer when the station asked whether leaving Nevaeh with him posed a risk. The station reported that Petty had previously lost custody of two children and described herself as a recovering drug addict who viewed Nevaeh’s birth as a fresh start.
The state agency’s legal authority is now part of the story because a known criminal record does not automatically answer whether DCS can remove a child. NewsChannel 5 reported that Tennessee law did not allow the department to remove a healthy child solely because an adult in the home had prior child-abuse convictions of the type attributed to Conner. A separate court order or other legal grounds would have been necessary. DCS later told WKRN that Tennessee already has a confidential registry for people substantiated through department investigations as perpetrators of child abuse or neglect. Unlike the sex-offender registry, however, it is not generally available for members of the public to search.
The criminal process and the child-welfare debate are therefore moving on separate tracks. Prosecutors must prove the current charges against Conner with evidence tied to Nevaeh’s injuries and the circumstances of Sept. 19. Questions about DCS concern a different issue: whether the system had enough information and legal authority to prevent Conner from being in a caregiving role before the emergency occurred. The public record reviewed so far does not show that DCS has been found to have violated policy or law, nor does it disclose the full contents of any welfare investigation because those records remain confidential.
After the Oct. 6 hearing, Wagner began pressing lawmakers to consider broader restrictions on people with histories of child abuse. He met two days later with state Sen. Mark Pody to discuss a possible measure referred to as “Nevaeh’s Law.” Ideas under discussion included greater public access to information about child-abuse histories and restrictions intended to keep convicted offenders from caring for children. Pody said lawmakers should determine whether procedures failed or whether existing statutes left a gap. DCS said any change to its confidential registry or other restrictions would require action by the General Assembly.
Nevaeh’s death thus leaves two unresolved proceedings: one in the courts and one in public policy. The criminal case was headed toward a Davidson County grand jury as of the latest verified court report, with Conner remaining accused rather than convicted in connection with the infant’s death. The legislative proposal remained preliminary. Whether either process ultimately changes the legal outcome for Conner or the rules governing future child-welfare cases had not been determined as of Nov. 8.
Author note: Last updated November 8, 2026.