MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – A Macomb County man pleaded no contest in the starvation death of his 2-year-old son.
The 2-year-old boy was found dead in his crib on Thursday, March 16, 2023. The cause of death was determined to be fatal starvation.
Prosecutors said that the boy’s mother, Sierra Pearl Zaitona, found the child dead in his crib while the child’s father, Jonathan Matthew Cheek, was at his mother’s house visiting.
The boy’s parents were both charged in March 2024 with second-degree murder and second-degree child abuse.
Cheek has entered a no-contest plea to both charges. A sentence agreement of 24 to 50 years in prison was reached. He is expected to be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2024.
Zaitona has a trial date set for 10 a.m. on April 1, 2025.
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