Wake County father charged with murder in infant’s death

Wake County deputies have now moved a long-running infant death investigation into a murder case, charging 25-year-old Christopher David Gonzales and holding him without bond at the Wake County Detention Center.

The case began on Oct. 28, 2024, when deputies received a report that an injured infant had been taken to a hospital. The child died four days later, on Nov. 1, 2024, after what authorities described as injuries severe enough to trigger a death investigation. For more than a year after that death, the case remained open while investigators examined the circumstances surrounding the baby’s injuries.

Deputies said the murder charge was filed Tuesday, April 21, 2026, after they worked with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office and the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office. That review appears to have been central to the case advancing from a death investigation to a homicide charge, a step that usually requires medical findings, witness interviews, records collection and prosecutor review before authorities believe they can meet the legal threshold for murder.

The Wake County Sheriff’s Office identified Gonzales as the child’s father, and WRAL reported that he was arrested and remains jailed without bond. His first court appearance has already taken place, putting the case into the next phase of the criminal process. From here, prosecutors will need to show not only that the infant died from injuries, but that the facts support the murder charge under North Carolina law.

The broader numbers underscore how serious child-death investigations can be in North Carolina. The North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force has studied child deaths since 1991, and its 2025 annual report said infants under age 1 accounted for 58% of all child deaths in the state in 2023. State child welfare data show that North Carolina investigated 112,929 reports of child abuse and neglect in state fiscal year 2024, with 18,990 substantiated cases. In that larger context, the Wake County case stands out as a stark reminder that some of the most difficult child protection and criminal investigations can take months before authorities decide they have enough evidence to file the most serious charge.