In re L.Z.A., 249 N.C. App. 628 (2016)

A child may be adjudicated abused when he or she sustains unexplained non-accidental injuries even without a finding of a pattern of abuse or the presence of risk factors. The evidence and findings of fact show the child, while in her parents’ care, suffered two fractures and a subdural hematoma that expert witnesses had determined were caused by non-accidental trauma. The lack of an explanation and/or a rule-out of every possibility for the cause of the child’s severe injuries are not required for an abuse adjudication.