TULSA, Okla. — A Craig County couple accused of punching their six-month-old child has been released from federal custody.

Joseph James Burris, 20, and Chloe Jayde Burris, 20, both of Vinita, are indicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma with child neglect in Indian Country and evidence tampering.  Joseph Burris also faces a charge of tampering with a witness by corrupt persuasion and misleading conduct.  

The couple were released on a personal recognizance bond and ordered to have no contact with the child and his siblings, court records show. Their jury trial is set for Nov. 6 in Tulsa.

U.S. District Court Records

Department of Human Services workers found the infant to have “bruising and swelling above his right eye” that appeared to be caused “by a closed fist knuckled punch,” according to a Cherokee Nation arrest warrant.

Chloe Burris’ two other children, a three and two-year-old, are in state custody, records show.

The infant was admitted to St. Francis Children’s Hospital in Tulsa with a possible brain bleed, the affidavit states. The “highly suspicious marks” on the infant’s hands, as well as bleeding in the brain” are consistent with child physical abuse, the affidavit states.  

The infant was also very underweight and resembled a “newborn at six months old,” the affidavit states, prompting authorities to also accuse the parents of failing to feed the infant, court records show.

Joseph Burris also faces a domestic violence charge in Cherokee Nation Court.