Patricia Ricks is charged with murder after the severely injured child was pronounced dead at a hospital on Tuesday.
The sheriff there says social services was investigating Ricks over alleged child abuse in the past month and also disclosed details about what officers found inside the grandmother's home.
"We have found some of those. We're not going to talk about that. We did find some weapons or items that were used at the residence," said Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone.
Ricks is jailed without bond.
The sheriff believes four other children were in the home at the time of the beating.
They are now in the custody of social services.