Man charged in death of son, 8, denied bail
Advocate staff report
June 23, 2012
A man booked Friday in the beating death of his 8-year-old son was denied bail Monday morning during an initial bail hearing, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said.
State District Judge Trudy White denied bail for 46-year-old Michael Robertson, Moore said.
Robertson, 11480 Glenda Drive, and Lavaughn Riley, 32, 8711 Coy Ave. were booked into Parish Prison on Friday on one count each of first-degree murder, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks has said.
Their son, Xzayvion Riley, died June 12 after he was found unresponsive at Riley’s Coy Avenue apartment.
Lavaughn Riley’s initial bail hearing will be held Tuesday morning, Moore said.
The two initial bail hearings are standard and occur within 72 hours after a booking, Moore said.
Paramedics took the boy to Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center on June 12, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, Hicks said. Hospital medical staff examining the boy found 56 bruises, cuts and abrasions on the child, including an adult-size bite mark on his stomach, Hicks said.
Robertson and Riley were initially booked on a count of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile following the death of their son, Hicks said.
The counts were changed to first-degree murder Friday after Coroner Beau Clark deemed Xzayvion’s death a homicide.
Preliminary results of the autopsy done Friday show the boy died of “overwhelming infection,” caused by a ruptured bowel, Clark said.
The ruptured bowel was caused by blunt-force trauma to Xzayvion’s abdomen, Clark said.
The autopsy also showed 60 external signs of recent and old trauma, including abrasions, bruises and a human bite mark, Clark said.