Man charged with murder, child abuse after infant death

BOONE - A 24-year-old man faces charges of murder and child abuse following the death of an infant hospitalized after an incident on Ray Brown Road.

Ryan Neil Hicks, of 375 Ray Brown Road, is being held at Watauga County Detention Center under a $1.1 million bond and is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, sex offender using social website and failure to register as a sex offender. A second child was reportedly harmed in the incident, with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Watauga County Sheriff's Office.

At approximately 11:47 a.m.March 1, the Watauga County Communications Center received a 911 call in reference to an infant not breathing at 375 Ray Brown Road in Boone, according to the Sheriff's Office. Watauga County Sheriff's deputies responded with Meat Camp Fire Department first responders and Watauga Medics to assist.

The infant was transported by Watauga Medics to Watauga Medical Center Emergency Department and then transported to Brenner's Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem for medical services.

Hicks was not related to the child but was living at the residence, the Sheriff's Office stated.

The Sheriff's Office and the Watauga County Department of Social Services immediately began an investigation. Numerous interviews and information were gathered related to the incident.

On March 2, as a result of the initial investigation and in consultation with the 24th Judicial District Attorney's Office, Hicks was charged with failure to register as a sex offender and negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. He was arrested and taken before a Watauga County magistrate, where he was given a $75,000 bond.

Watauga County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Unit, Watauga County Department of Social Services, Children's Advocacy Center of the Blue Ridge and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation Computer Crimes Unit continued to investigate this incident. Additional interviews were conducted and more information was gathered related to the incident and Hicks' alleged involvement.

The infant was later pronounced deceased at Brenner's Children's Hospital. An autopsy was conducted on the infant March 3, and the results of that autopsy are pending, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Hicks' court date is set as April 6, 2017.

A Ryan Neil Hicks with the same birth date as the man charged in this incident is listed on the North Carolina sex offender registry with a Hickory address. Hicks was convicted in Watauga County in 2012 of sexual battery stemming from a 2011 incident when he was 18 and the victim was 14, according to state records.