Jaxon Bunner, center, and his accused killer – his mother, Amanda Jo Bunner, inset. (Screengrab via WOIO; Summit County Jail)
An Ohio woman is under arrest in connection with the alleged murder of her toddler son, who died more than seven years ago from a head injury.
Jaxon Ross Bunner died on April 13, 2016 at the Akron Children's Hospital. According to the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office, the toddler suffered a fatal blunt force injury to his head – specifically a subdural hemorrhage with traumatic brain swelling and herniation due to craniocerebral blunt force trauma. The agency said the injury was inflicted, not accidental, and noted the likely presence of prior abuse-inflicted trauma on his body – as well as neglect.
But, the boy's father said, the case languished for years.
"Apparently it slipped through the cracks, and nobody brought it back to the grand jury until recently," the boy's father, Kyle Bunner, told Shaker Heights-based CBS affiliate WOIO. "The detective that I spoke with has gone above and beyond to try to get justice for my son."
According to the child's obituary, Jaxon would have turned three on May 21, 2016 – a little over a month after he was killed.
"His smile, his giggle, and his piercing eyes will be cherished for all the happiness he brought to his family and to this earth," the boy's obituary reads. "Thank you for loving us, Jaxon."
"You could never imagine meeting him and that anyone could ever do something like that to him," the boy's father told the TV station – still perplexed and angry all these years after the loss.
Last Tuesday, Amanda Jo Bunner, the deceased boy's mother, was arrested at a rest stop in Lorain County, Ohio. She now stands accused of the boy's murder, according to the Akron Police Department.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Amanda Bunner was arraigned on Wednesday morning in Akron Municipal Court.
She is also charged with one count each of endangering children, and felonious assault, jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to Youngstown, Ohio-based CBS affiliate WKBN, police are keeping mum as to why the boy's mother was charged – or why it took so long for charges to be filed in the case.
The boy's father said he was told that backlogs at the medical examiner's office prevented his son's death from being ruled a homicide for some 20 months, according to WOIO. After that, he told the TV station, he was told that retirements in the local police department kept frustrating the progress of the criminal investigation.
"Finally, when she was finally charged and they got her it was rewarding to an extent," Kyle Bunner said of his ex-wife, in comments to WOIO. "Hopefully she's never around another child again."
"She hasn't had contact with the kids or me or anybody of my family in that entire time," the still-distraught man added.
Amanda Bunner is currently being detained in the Summit County Jail. Her bond has been set at $1 million. It is unclear if she is currently represented by an attorney.
Jaxon Bunner would have turned 10 years old this month.