KALKASKA -- A man accused of beating a toddler to death in a Kalkaska apartment is scheduled to stand trial early next year, and two others tied to the incident pleaded guilty.
Sheldon McDonald faces an open count of murder in the August death of Cody Cross, 3. Cody was unconscious and had a head injury when authorities arrived Aug. 1 at the downtown Kalkaska apartment where McDonald lived with the boy's mother, Pamela Buning. He died Aug. 3.
Investigators allege McDonald repeatedly beat Cody over a prolonged period as a "misguided form of discipline," and Buning, 24, did nothing to stop it.
Buning initially was charged with first-degree child abuse, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstructing justice, but on Nov. 4 pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and an added count of involuntary manslaughter. The obstruction and child abuse charges were dismissed.
Buning was charged with manslaughter because she failed to protect Cody from McDonald, Kalkaska County Prosecutor Brian Donnelly said.
"She allowed (Cody) to be watched by Sheldon McDonald on a daily basis, knowing full well he was beating him," he said. "She continued to place him in that danger. It's like having a tiger in your backyard and letting your kid out to play."
Heather Batchelor, a friend of McDonald and Buning, also was charged.
Batchelor pleaded guilty Nov. 5 to conspiracy to obstruct justice. In exchange for the plea, she agreed to testify at the Sept. 26 preliminary examination of McDonald and Buning about the trio's plans to cover up the beatings by telling authorities the toddler fell down the stairs.
Police captured a phone conversation between the three Aug. 1 as Batchelor sat in the back seat of a police car. She called both McDonald and Buning on her cell phone to discuss a cover-up story, police said, and equipment in the car recorded the conversation.
Batchelor authenticated the recording during testimony at the preliminary examination, Donnelly said.
Donnelly doesn't expect to see McDonald enter a plea.
"He's charged with what amounts to first-degree murder," Donnelly said. "You almost never see anybody plead guilty for first-degree murder, and I would be hard-pressed to accept anything less than that. The facts are clear, and there are some cases where you just have to hold (a suspect) to it."
McDonald's trial is set to begin Jan. 12.
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