MANHATTAN — A Riley County judge has found enough evidence for a Manhattan man to stand trial in the death of an infant last fall.
D’Khari Lyons, 23, appeared at a preliminary hearing Friday in front of Judge William Malcolm. Lyons is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 2-month-old Michael Calvert Jr. He’ll be arraigned later this month.
During Friday’s hearing, witnesses testified the child was seriously injured sometime after 8 a.m. Nov. 8. Witnesses testified that the mother left Calvert Jr. with Lyons so she could take her two older children to school that morning. The baby was with Lyons in the woman’s bed. When she returned home, the child was unresponsive, struggling to breathe and had bruises on his chest. Lyons was the only one home at the time with the child. Calvert Jr. was taken to Via Christi Hospital and eventually to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, where he died Nov. 11. A medical examiner testified Calvert died from blunt force and abusive trauma to the head. He sustained a skull fracture, bleeding on the brain and a hemorrhage to his eyes. The cause of death was listed as a homicide.
Witnesses testified Lyons and the boy’s mother had been in a brief romantic relationship at the time of the boy’s death. According to testimony the two met at work and had smoked a half blunt of marijuana that night. The mother had not been drinking that night. It was not revealed if Lyons had been drinking. Officers did find items in the baby’s crib including chap stick, a lighter and dirty diapers. Marijuana residue and paraphernalia was also located in the mother’s dresser.
Lyons is scheduled to be arraigned at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 11, but that date is likely to change after Lyons’ attorney noted in court a scheduling conflict. A secondary court date is pending at the discretion of Judge Meryl Wilson.
