Christopher Evans, 34, faces murder charges in the death of his three-week-old daughter in Cincinnati.

Evans was convicted in Warren County in 2017 of injuring his newborn son at the family's Loveland home. Prosecutors say the new case closely mirrors that conviction. A Hamilton County judge set combined bond at $2 million at Evans' arraignment Friday, Sept. 11, and ordered him to have no contact with minors, WCPO reported.

Evans is charged with murder, felonious assault and child endangerment. Investigators allege his infant daughter suffered massive head trauma, including a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. She died Sunday, Sept. 6, at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Cincinnati police had responded to the 6000 block of Red Bank Road in Kennedy Heights on Saturday, Sept. 5, for reports of an unresponsive child. The department's Homicide Unit arrested Evans on Thursday, Sept. 10.

At the arraignment, both an assistant prosecutor and a Cincinnati homicide detective told the judge the current allegations closely mirror the 2015 Warren County case. The prosecutor urged the court to keep Evans away from children.

"And as horrific as those facts are, it's eminently predictable, because in 2015 you have the same exact injuries," the prosecutor said, according to WCPO. "Horrific facts that seem to be just repeating themselves over and over again… Please, for the sake of God, please do not let him be around any more children."

The 2015 Loveland case

The prior case began Oct. 18, 2015, when Evans was left alone with his three-week-old son for about 40 minutes at the family's home on Hibiscus Drive in Loveland, according to the 12th District Court of Appeals opinion in State v. Evans. His wife had left to buy gas drops for the baby at Kroger.

When she returned, the infant's face was swollen and turning blue. He went limp and became unresponsive.

The baby was taken to Bethesda North Hospital, then transferred to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Doctors found subdural bleeding, a brain injury, retinal hemorrhages and fractures in his legs. A pediatric neuroradiologist testified at trial that the severity of the brain injury was comparable to trauma seen when a child is hit by a car or falls from a two-story window.

The next day, Evans told Warren County Sheriff's detectives he had bounced his son too hard, describing the force as an "8 out of 10," according to the appeals court opinion. He also told detectives he became frustrated while changing his son's diaper and threw the infant onto a wood-framed changing table, causing the baby's head to strike the wooden portion.

At his January 2017 jury trial, Evans recanted that confession. He testified he told detectives what he thought they wanted to hear because he was afraid and worried about his child.

A Warren County jury found Evans guilty of felonious assault and child endangering. Judge Donald Oda sentenced him to three years in prison on March 16, 2017.

Early release and supervision

Evans did not serve the full sentence. In December 2018, a Warren County judge granted his request for judicial release after he had served 733 days. The court found factors indicating a lesser likelihood of recidivism outweighed those indicating a greater likelihood.

He was placed on intensive community control, including 60 days of electronic monitoring, and ordered to have no contact with his son, the child's mother or her family. His supervision ran until June 15, 2024, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, as Fox 19 reported. A December 2021 court filing states Evans had complied with supervision rules and was discharged from community control early.

Current charges

Evans' public defender entered a not-guilty plea at the Sept. 11 arraignment and called the allegations "extremely serious," according to WCPO. The defense raised questions about the scientific reliability of diagnosing abusive head trauma.

The case is scheduled to go before a Hamilton County grand jury. Evans is being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center.

Anyone with information about the infant's death can contact the Cincinnati Police Homicide Unit at 513-352-3542.