Infant Suffers Critical Injuries At Unlicensed Smithfield Daycare, Police Say

SMITHFIELD, N.C. — Smithfield police are urging anyone who may have entrusted a child to an unlicensed daycare operating from a Smithfield home to come forward after an infant allegedly suffered life-threatening injuries while in the caregiver’s custody.

Investigators believe Sunrise to Sunset Home Child Care, operated from a residence at 205 Cloverdale Drive, had been caring for children for more than a year and typically had four to six children in its care at any given time.

The investigation began Monday after Johnston County EMS responded to the Cloverdale Drive home for an injured infant and transported the child to WakeMed in Raleigh. Hospital staff later notified the Smithfield Police Department after the infant arrived for treatment.

Detectives launched an investigation and, based on evidence gathered and information developed during the case, obtained a search warrant for the residence Tuesday.

Following the investigation, Brooke Ashley Reiner, 26, of 205 Cloverdale Drive, was arrested and charged with two counts of intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and one count of providing child care while unlicensed resulting in serious injury to a child.

A Johnston County magistrate ordered Reiner held under a $5 million secured bond.

The infant remains hospitalized in serious condition.

According to the arrest warrant, police investigators allege the infant suffered extensive injuries, including external bruising, a brain bleed with a midline shift, and hemispheric disconnection — a separation of the brain’s hemispheres. The warrant alleges Reiner caused the injuries by repeatedly striking the 8-month-old child in the face, head and abdomen with her hand, and by throwing the child onto a changing table and slamming the child’s head against the table. The warrant said the injuries required emergency brain surgery.

Because investigators believe the unlicensed daycare had been operating for more than a year and cared for several children on a regular basis, detectives are attempting to identify other families who may have used the daycare.

Anyone with information about the investigation or the operation of Sunrise to Sunset Home Child Care is asked to contact the Smithfield Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 919-934-2738.

The investigation remains ongoing.