Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser is pushing back hard against claims that his office could have prevented the death of 7-year-old William Evans by pursuing felony charges against Kirby Rankin months earlier.

Gmoser told WCPO that his office reviewed the Jan. 4 assault case with Fairfield police and prosecutors and determined Rankin was charged appropriately. The incident, he said, did not meet the standard for felony charges.

"If I prosecuted felonies of every punch in the eye on a weekend, we would be trying those cases until Christmas," Gmoser said.

The dispute centers on a confrontation at Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield. Surveillance footage showed Rankin, 33, pushing and punching Amy Bunnell in the face with a closed fist, then pulling a handgun from a purse, chambering a round and pointing it at a bystander who tried to intervene. Bunnell suffered a concussion, three fractured teeth and a knee injury that required surgery.

Rankin was charged with assault and aggravated menacing, both first-degree misdemeanors. He was convicted and remained free on a $100,000 bond while awaiting sentencing. That sentencing was still pending when Cincinnati police found William's body on Aug. 7, inside a closet at a home in the 2800 block of Madison Road in Oakley.

As we reported Aug. 8, a judge set bond at $1.1 million each for Rankin, William's mother Kaitlin Evans, 38, and Nessa Keaney, 23. All three have pleaded not guilty to murder and child endangerment.

Lance Bunnell, Amy's husband, is a retired law enforcement captain who spent roughly 26 years overseeing investigations at the Butler County Sheriff's Office and now serves as a special deputy there. He said the family made about 20 requests to upgrade the charges to felonies. Authorities declined every time, citing the single punch.

Amy Bunnell told Local 12 on Sunday, Aug. 9, that she explicitly warned authorities Rankin was violent, had a gun and lived with a young child. She said a child welfare check might have followed a felony charge.

Gmoser disputed the Bunnells' account. He said Amy Bunnell was the person who initially instigated the encounter, though he acknowledged that does not justify Rankin punching her. He called the idea that a different charging decision could have prevented William's death "stupid," and said Fairfield police, the Fairfield prosecutor and his office all agreed on how the case should be handled.

During the Aug. 8 arraignment, a Cincinnati homicide detective testified that investigators observed injuries consistent with beatings and blunt-force trauma on William's body. The boy was subjected to what was described in court as "water torture" and "burn torture." Investigators said Rankin disclosed involvement in the prolonged abuse and implicated Evans and Keaney as active participants.

Rankin's attorney has requested a competency evaluation. Authorities said additional charges could be filed after the autopsy and further interviews are completed.

A grand jury is expected to hear the case against all three defendants on Aug. 17, according to WLWT.