By Staff
CASSOPOLIS - The Cass County Major Crimes Task Force and Cassopolis Police Chief Frank Williams advise that Donald Allen Parks, 23, of Edwardsburg was arraigned today in Fourth District Court, Cassopolis, on the charge of open murder. Judge Paul Deats ordered Parks held with no bond pending a preliminary examination at the Cass County Jail.
Parks was arrested on Thursday for the assault to his purported child, Austin Singleton, 2 of South Bend, Ind.
On the evening of Nov. 4, while at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo, at about 11 p.m. the child's brain activity ended while the child's heart ceased to function at about 1 p.m. on Nov. 5. The child was pronounced deceased by hospital doctors.
An autopsy will be performed at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids on Saturday to determine the exact cause of death, however, investigators believe that the child died as a result of an assault by Parks. The investigation remains open at this time pending autopsy results.
A preliminary hearing for Parks is scheduled for Nov. 18.