TULSA, Okla. — A Craig County couple pleaded guilty to child neglect in connection to the abuse of their six-month-old infant.
Joseph James Burris, 20, and Chloe Jayde Burris, 20, both of Vinita, will be sentenced after undergoing a presentencing investigation.
Joseph Burris’s other charges of evidence tampering and tampering with a witness by corrupt persuasion and misleading conduct were dismissed, court records show.
The couple’s plea agreement states that from November 20, 2022, through May 18, 2023, they failed to provide appropriate supervision by allowing people under the influence to babysit the baby and properly supervise the other children.
Chloe Burris‘s plea also includes her failure to seek medical attention for the infant.
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.”
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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.
