NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A father is turning his grief into a fight for change after his 4-month-old daughter died from injuries consistent with abuse — and the man charged in connection with her death had prior convictions for child abuse and neglect.
Edward Wagner remembers the little things about his daughter, Nevaeh Faith — her smile, her bright blue eyes, the way she kicked her feet.
"I wake up in the morning. I look at her. Her beautiful blue eyes. She'll kick her feet. She was a happy baby. She really was a happy baby," Wagner said.
Nevaeh's first name means heaven spelled backward. For Wagner, small moments with his daughter felt like the beginning of a lifetime of memories.
"She had the most beautiful smile," Wagner said.
But Nevaeh would never get that chance.
In September, Nevaeh was rushed to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Doctors found serious head injuries consistent with abuse. She later died.
"This could have been prevented," Wagner said.
Police charged Bobby Randall Conner Jr. with aggravated child abuse. Records show Conner had previous convictions for child abuse and child neglect. Because Nevaeh died the following day from her injuries, Conner could also face murder charges.
Conner was convicted of child neglect last month as a result of a March 2025 arrest and received a sentence of one year. He was also convicted of child abuse in August 2020 and received a sentence of four years.
Wagner says he tried to raise concerns about Conner before Nevaeh's death.
"I was aware about it. I'm the one that told DCS numerous times, and they just overlooked it because he's not a registered sex offender," Wagner said.
Now, Wagner wants a child abuse registry to help parents and officials identify potential risks. He is working with State Senator Mark Pody on a proposal called Nevaeh's Law.
"Nevaeh's Law, obviously, is named after her. It's going to be a child abuse registry. What it's going to do is, you know, Tennessee just passed the domestic violence one. Obviously, we have a sex offender one. I want something against child abusers," Wagner said.
Pody says he is working with Wagner on potential legislation, and discussions about the proposal have been productive. The legislation has not yet been formally introduced.
For Wagner, the hope is that another family won't have to live with this kind of loss.
"It feels 100% right. I always said if I can help somebody else's kids not being in a predicament that Nevaeh was, I'm 100% for it," Wagner said.
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