Deputies say the 5-month-old boy died after suffering traumatic head injuries in Brown Summit.
BROWN SUMMIT, N.C. — More than two years after a 5-month-old boy was taken from a Brown Summit home to a hospital and died, Guilford County deputies have charged the child’s father with first-degree murder and felony child abuse, saying the infant’s death was later ruled a homicide.
The arrest moves a case that began as a reported cardiac arrest into a homicide prosecution. Investigators say Travis Jaamal Sistrunk, 37, was charged March 20 in the death of his infant son after a long investigation involving sheriff’s detectives, the state medical examiner and the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office. The case centers on what happened inside a home on Hickory Court on Dec. 8, 2023, when emergency workers tried to save the child before he died at a hospital.
Deputies were first called to the home on Hickory Court in Brown Summit on the night of Dec. 8, 2023. Authorities have said the call came in as a reported cardiac arrest involving an infant. When deputies arrived, Guilford County Emergency Services crews were already there and were giving life-saving care to the 5-month-old boy. The child was then taken to a hospital, but he later died. At that point, what had begun as an emergency response became a death investigation. Sheriff Danny Rogers said investigators with the agency’s Major Crimes Investigative Unit began examining the circumstances surrounding the child’s death. Authorities have not publicly described the infant’s condition inside the home beyond saying he was in medical distress, and they have not said who else was present when deputies and EMS arrived.
Over time, investigators said, evidence gathered in the case pointed away from a natural death. Arrest warrants cited by local media say the infant suffered traumatic head injuries. Authorities have publicly identified Sistrunk as the child’s father. On March 20, deputies arrested him and filed two felony charges: first-degree murder and intentional child abuse inflicting serious injury. Officials have not released a detailed probable-cause narrative, and they have not publicly explained what evidence led detectives to conclude that Sistrunk caused the injuries. They also have not said whether any witness statements, medical findings or forensic testing helped shape the charges. The sheriff’s office has said only that the investigation remained active after the child’s death and that the infant’s death was ultimately ruled a homicide.
The long gap between the child’s death and the arrest is one of the most striking parts of the case. According to sheriff’s officials, detectives worked the investigation for more than two years with help from the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office. In child death cases, investigators often wait for full autopsy findings, medical review and legal consultation before deciding whether criminal charges are supported. In this case, local reports show that the sheriff’s office kept many details private while the investigation continued. Publicly released facts remained limited to the date and place of the emergency call, the child’s age, the later homicide ruling and the charges filed against Sistrunk. That left many questions unanswered even as the case moved from an emergency medical call to a homicide investigation.
Sistrunk was booked into the Guilford County Detention Center in Greensboro and was being held without bond after his arrest. Sheriff’s officials said his first court appearance was scheduled for Monday, March 23, at 2 p.m. The sheriff’s office has not publicly announced any additional charges, and there has been no public indication that anyone else has been arrested in connection with the infant’s death. Prosecutors are expected to begin moving the case through the early court process, which may include bond review, appointment or confirmation of counsel and later hearings tied to the felony charges. Investigators have also said the case is ongoing, leaving open the possibility of additional records or court filings that could provide a fuller account of what happened inside the home.
For now, the case stands as a quiet but serious homicide prosecution built from a single night in Brown Summit. Public statements from law enforcement have been brief and careful, offering little beyond the basic outline of the investigation. That has left neighbors and the wider Guilford County community with a case defined more by its timeline than by public detail: an infant in distress, emergency crews at a home, a death at the hospital, and an arrest more than two years later. Rogers said the case drew on work from multiple agencies, underscoring how slowly and methodically child death cases can move when authorities are trying to match medical findings with criminal charges. The next public step is expected to come in court as prosecutors begin presenting the case against Sistrunk.
The father remains charged with murder and felony child abuse, and the sheriff’s office says the investigation is still open. The next clear milestone is the defendant’s scheduled court appearance in Guilford County.
Author note: Last updated March 24, 2026.