MANHATTAN — A preliminary autopsy report has determined that an infant child died from abusive head trauma last month.
D’Khari Lyons, 23, was arrested Nov. 15 and is charged with murder in the baby’s death. An obituary and GoFundMe page started by the family identifies the infant child as Michael Calvert Jr.
According to an affidavit obtained by KMAN, a medical examiner noted the child’s death to be from abusive head trauma, in particular from bleeding and skull fractures. It lists the manner of death as homicide. In the report, the doctor, whose name is redacted, says the hemorrhage within the baby’s optic nerves could only be caused by “birth trauma” or repetitive, severe jarring of an infant commonly referred to as “shaken baby” or “abusive head trauma.” The doctor says 85 to 90 percent of incidents involving infant injuries to the optic nerves like the ones observed in the autopsy, occur from abusive head trauma.
Calvert was transported to Via Christi on Nov. 8 after emergency personnel responded to a report of an unconscious child and abnormal breathing. The child was air lifted to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City where he died Nov. 11. The report notes Lyons has denied moving Calvert in a way that would have caused the baby’s head to strike an object or for an object to come in contact with his head. He also denied moving the body in a way that would cause his head to move uncontrollably.
Lyons will appear for a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. Dec. 11 in Riley County District Court. He remains confined in the Riley County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
Read the full redacted arrest affidavit for D’Khari Lyons here: Affidavit – Riley County Case 2018-Cr-000667
