APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A man charged with reckless homicide for allegedly causing the co-sleeping death of his one-month-old son after a night of drinking in 2010 pleaded not guilty Thursday.
A Sept. 29 trial date was set for Michael Donnelly, 35. A five-day trial is planned.
After testimony by Appleton Police Sgt. Chad Riddle, Donelly was bound over for trial, despite an argument from the defense that the evidence did not rise beyond negligence to reckless homicide.
Donnelly’s cash bond was lowered from $100,000 cash to $2,000 cash by Judge Mark McGinnis.
According to the criminal complaint, first responders were called to the home at about 2 a.m. for an unresponsive child on April 29, 2010. The boy was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.
The autopsy showed “there was no anatomic cause of death, there was pulmonary edema in the lungs, petechiae hemorrhage to his forehead and linear red marks to his right forehead and no other traumatic injuries to the body. This would be consistent with a co-sleeping death,” the complaint states.
At first, Donnelly – then 20 – denied he fell asleep with the child on the couch. Police found six empty Blatz beer cans and one empty Bud Light can, but Donnelly said they were from the day before the death, and denied he had been drinking that night. But in a second interview months later, Donnelly’s story changed.
“He then went on to explain why he fell asleep and said he had a long day of working construction and was extremely tired and fell asleep with (the child) on the couch,” the complaint states.
“He was then confronted about drinking on that particular night and admitted to having a “couple of beers earlier in the night.” He went on to explain that he lied to officers about that because he was not 21 on the date of (the child’s) passing,” the complaint states. “He then disclosed to us that he had approximately five to six beers throughout the evening.”
The criminal complaint offers no reason as to why it took more than a decade for charges to be filed.
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