A grand jury will hear the case against a Bowling Green man accused of abusing and injuring his infant son, who remains hospitalized after doctors noticed multiple skull and rib fractures.

Kevin L. Bunton, 25, appeared Wednesday in Warren District Court for a preliminary hearing on charges of first-degree assault and first-degree criminal abuse.

Bunton was arrested Aug. 30 after doctors at The Medical Center contacted the Bowling Green Police Department about an injured 4-month-old boy who was brought to the hospital by his mother.

BGPD Detective Eric Stroud said Wednesday that the child, who was later transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, remained there as of Tuesday night but had been taken out of the critical care unit.

Stroud testified that Bunton and the baby’s mother, Shaunisia Roddy, initially claimed not to have any knowledge of the injuries when initially questioned by police. 

Bunton would eventually tell police that, while playing with his older son on Aug. 28, Bunton fell back onto a bed with him and struck the 4-month-old in the back of the head with his elbow as the younger baby was lying on his stomach, according to Stroud.

“He later saw an indentation on the boy’s head followed by a large knot,” Stroud said of Bunton.

Instead of seeking medical attention, Bunton attempted to “push the knot back in” by squeezing the infant’s head until it made a popping sound, Stroud testified. 

The baby cried for about 30-60 minutes and was eventually put to sleep, though Bunton claimed to see the baby twitching involuntarily, Stroud said.

Roddy returned home from work on the night of Aug. 29 and noticed a red mark and swelling on her son’s head.

“She asked Bunton what had happened and he couldn’t tell her,” Stroud said.

Roddy took the child to The Medical Center, where doctors discovered multiple skull fractures and bleeding on the brain.

Doctors discovered four full fractures on one side of the skull and five fractures on the other side, Stroud testified.

“The brain bleeds were described (by doctors) as old and new,” Stroud said, adding that doctors also found the infant had retinal hemorrhaging. “The head trauma was not a lone incident.”

At Vanderbilt, doctors found up to 10 rib fractures that were in four different stages of healing, Stroud said.

Bunton told police that the injuries may have come from attempts to perform CPR after the baby had ingested water, according to Stroud.

The baby, who was born three months premature, is now in the custody of the state Department of Community Based Services, and the extent of the child’s brain damage is unknown, according to the detective.

Bunton remains in Warren County Regional Jail under a $250,000 cash bond.

Warren District Judge John Brown denied a request from Bunton’s attorney, Diana Werkman of the Department of Public Advocacy, to modify the bond.

— Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com