A 2-year-old Edmond girl was rushed to the hospital with no pulse on August 15, and a CT scan later revealed a brain bleed and swelling, according to a police affidavit. Her mother's boyfriend, 26-year-old Joseph Chlebanowski, was the only adult with the child when the injuries happened, investigators determined, and he was taken into custody just before 10 p.m. that night.
According to KFOR, Edmond Police Department officers responded to a home in the Oak Ridge Estates neighborhood after reports of a child who was not breathing. Emergency responders found the girl had no pulse and was not breathing, then performed life-saving measures and restored her pulse during the drive to the hospital. She was taken to Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health, which operates as the state's only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center, according to OU Health.
A Mother's Frantic Drive Home
The child's mother had left for work around 3:30 p.m. that day, per the affidavit cited by the station. She told investigators Chlebanowski called her after 7 p.m. sounding hysterical, telling her the child was gurgling and unable to breathe. She dialed 911 while leaving work to head home, and told Chlebanowski to hang up and call for help himself.
Chlebanowski told officers he had been alone with the child and her siblings after the mother left for work. He reported to her that the girl had experienced a nosebleed before the episode, but the mother said nosebleeds were very uncommon for her daughter, the affidavit states.
Prior Hospital Visits Raise Questions
The girl's medical history shows she had already been seen twice at hospitals in the days before the near-fatal incident. On August 9, her mother brought her to Mercy Hospital after she fell off a toilet; an initial CT scan at that visit came back clear. Then on August 12, the mother brought her to OU Children's Hospital for arm and face injuries, where staff documented her condition during that visit.
OU Children's Hospital personnel later confirmed, per the affidavit, that the new marks and bruises documented when the child arrived unresponsive on August 15 were not present during the August 12 visit. Emergency room staff also stated that symptoms from the injury that caused her brain bleed would have begun immediately, undercutting any suggestion the harm happened earlier and went unnoticed.
Booking Records Show Prior Domestic Violence Case
Detectives interviewed Chlebanowski at the Edmond Police Department before he was booked into the Oklahoma County jail on a charge related to child abuse by injury, with bond set at $10 million, according to public booking records reviewed by America's Top Mugshots. Those same records show Edmond Police had already booked Chlebanowski once this year, on June 19, on charges including domestic abuse in the presence of a minor, domestic assault and battery by strangulation, and obstructing an officer.
Under Oklahoma Statute Title 21, Section 843.5, felony child abuse by injury carries a potential sentence of up to life imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections, along with potential fines, according to legal guidance published by Boeheim Freeman Law. If convicted, Chlebanowski would also fall under the state's 85% rule, a mandatory sentencing provision under 21 O.S. Section 13.1 that requires offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their prison term before becoming eligible for parole, per FindLaw.
How the Case Moves Through the System
The Edmond Police Department serves as the lead agency investigating major felony crimes against children within city limits, preparing the arrest affidavit before referring the case to the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office for formal prosecution, as Hoodline has reported. In cases of severe pediatric abuse, Oklahoma Child Protective Services typically works alongside local law enforcement and regional Child Advocacy Centers to conduct forensic interviews and medical reviews, according to the Tulsa Flyer.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services reported that its Abuse and Neglect Hotline received nearly 32,000 allegations of child maltreatment statewide during 2024. Separately, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation data cited by the Tulsa Flyer shows law enforcement agencies recorded more than 12,000 reported cases of severe child abuse and physical or sexual maltreatment between 2021 and 2025, averaging over 2,400 cases a year statewide.
It remains unclear whether the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office has formally filed charges beyond the initial arrest, what the child's current medical condition is at OU Children's Hospital, or whether OKDHS had any prior active child welfare case involving the household. Oklahoma law requires anyone who has reason to believe a child is facing abuse or neglect to report it to law enforcement or the state's 24-hour hotline at 1-800-522-3511, according to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
