Inset left top to bottom: Elizabeth LynnLanor Hogan and Devin Austin Brown-Fowler (Oceana County Sheriff's Office). Inset right: Maverick Lyle Bouck (Obituary). Background: The area where the defendants and victim lived in Greenwood Township, Mich. (Google Maps).
A Michigan couple is behind bars after the mother's infant baby boy died earlier this year, Wolverine State law enforcement say.
Elizabeth LynnLanor Hogan, 27, and Devin Austin Brown-Fowler, 34, stand accused of one count each of child abuse in the second degree, child abuse in the third degree, and child abuse in the fourth degree, according to the Oceana County Sheriff's Office.
The underlying incident is several months old.
On May 4, shortly before 8 p.m., law enforcement arrived at the couple's residence on South 192nd Avenue in Greenwood Township – a tiny municipality located some 60 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.
There, responding sheriff's deputies found 7-month-old Maverick Lyle Bouck. The baby boy was dead; at the time, details were scarce.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
"It's still very early," Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast told the Oceana County Press initially. "It's a tragedy – our thoughts are with the family while we're trying to investigate the situation."
Now, two members of the family are facing significant – but not the most serious – charges, and authorities have provided more details about what caused the infant to die well before his time.
"He had three skull fractures, three broken ribs and a brain bleed — he passed from the brain bleed," the child's grandmother – and the female defendant's mother – told the County Press.
The boy's grandmother went on to lay more of the blame at her daughter's feet, as opposed to similar culpability for the boyfriend, due to one of the skull fractures being an "older fracture."
The child's obituary remembers his too-brief life in fond terms:
Maverick was a happy healthy joyful boy who loved to eat. This chunky boy was fitting into 12-month clothes at 7 months. He was starting to crawl and roll over a lot. He loved and adored his sisters. Maverick loved going for car rides and falling asleep or being pulled in his Radio Flyer red wagon. Even though he was here such a short time he experienced a lot. Like a car show the week after he came to life. Races, monster trucks, and so many loud noises that never seemed to bother him. Whatever it is we did as parents, he did. He learned to fly before he could walk or talk, but he will forever be in our hearts and never forgotten.
The defendants are not currently facing homicide charges.
In comments to the County Press, Oceana County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Bizon explained why such legal jeopardy is not in the offing.
"Murder and manslaughter charges include an element of intent related to desired outcome," the prosecutor told the local newspaper. "The evidence does not support such a conclusion."
On Nov. 24, the couple was arraigned on the charges they face.
Both Hogan and Brown-Fowler are detained in the Oceana County Jail. The female defendant has bond set at $25,000; the male defendant has bond set at $50,000. They are slated to appear in court for preliminary exams on Dec. 9.
