By Michael Wayland | MLive.com MLive.com
View full size Michael Wayland | MLive.com Matilda Jane Brown Gardner (left), 30, and her husband, Randy Steven Gardner, 32, sit in Judge Brigette Officer's courtroom in 30th District Court, Highland Park. The couple face chargers of murder, torture and child abuse involving their 4-year-old nephew, Robert Byrd.
The death of a 4-year-old boy in Highland Park was the culmination of a long series of torture and neglect, according to a medical expert.
"This child was tortured and beaten," said Wayne County Medical Examiner Carl Schmidt, who testified in Highland Park's 30th District Court involving the death of Robert Byrd last month.
Schmidt, who conducted the boy's autopsy, said Byrd was bound by the wrists and beaten over a long period of time.
Randy Steven Gardner, 32, and his wife, Matilda Jane Brown Gardner, 30, are both charged with first-degree murder , felony murder, first-degree child abuse and first-degree torture in the death of Byrd. Both were in court today, but did not testify.
Byrd died from starvation May 8 in the couple's Highland Park home, according to officials.
During the nearly three-hour examination, graphic testimony and autopsy photos were presented to Judge Brigette Officer.
Schmidt said the photos, which Officer called "disturbing," showed bruises, healed scars and open wounds on more than 90 percent of the Byrd's body.
Court-appointed defense lawyers Robert Kinney and Lillian Diallo argued for a number of charges, including torture, be dropped, but Officer denied their requests.
Schmidt and Highland Park Police Officer Paul Thomas, who is in charge of the case, were the only two witnesses to testify today.
Thomas, who interviewed the Gardners two times each following their arrests on May 8, read transcripts from two of his interviews as evidence. In one interview, Thomas said Matilda Gardner said her husband beat the boy with a belt and an electric extension cord.
"Randy whipped the kids with extension cords," Thomas said Matilda Gardner told him.
Thomas said Randy Gardner was "not overly upset" during an interview a day after his arrest.
Thomas said Randy Gardner told him that the injuries to Byrd must have come from his father, Anthony Byrd Sr., who was jailed for nine months in 2009 for felonious assault.
View full size Michael Wayland | MLive.com Wayne County Medical Examiner Carl Schmidt testifies before Judge Brigette Officer in Highland Park's 30th District Court involving the death of Robert Byrd Jr. last month.
Kinney and Diallo suggested that Robert Byrd suffered from sickle cell anemia and asthma, which could have contributed to the boy weighing less than 25 pounds when he died.
Schmidt said Robert Byrd was the right height for his age, but about 10 pounds under weight.
In interviews with Thomas, both Gardners said they fed Robert Byrd at least three times a day -- citing primarily fast food meals. Both denied starving the boy.
"I fed him along with everyone else," Thomas said Matilda Gardner told him.
Both Gardners remained primarily silent during today's examination. Matilda Gardener for a majority of the examination, held what appeared to be a folded up bundle of white papers in her hands.
The Gardeners, who will remain in jail without bond, took legal custody of Byrd after his mother died of a brain aneurism in 2007, and his father was incarcerated.
The couple is due back in court 9 a.m. June 17.
Five other children stayed at the home in the 200 block of California Street but were apparently unhurt, according to reports. One was the 6-year-old brother of Robert, and the others are the Gardners' four sons.
Nearly 300 people gathered last month to pay their last respects to Byrd, whose death from starvation on May 8 was ruled a homicide.
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