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UPDATE: Van Buren County Father Gets Year In Jail for Teen's Fatal Overdose

Calvin Funeral Home, Hartford, MI

   

NEW:

A southwestern Michigan man has been sentenced to a year in jail for his 16-year-old son's fatal drug overdose.

Prosecutors accused Gary Birkhead of knowingly allowing his son to use illicit drugs over two years.

He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in November. Birkhead, a Bangor resident, has been in the Van Buren County jail for months and will have roughly 100 days left on the sentence.

Cole Birkhead died in 2017 at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo. 

ORIGINAL POST:

PAW PAW, Mich. (AP) - A southwestern Michigan man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal overdose of his 16-year-old son.

 
     Michigan State Police say 48-year-old Gary Birkhead of Bangor was arraigned in Van Buren County District Court Wednesday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse.
 
     Police say Cole Birkhead died of a drug overdose on Aug. 13, 2017. Police didn't say what drug the teenager had taken.
 
     Prosecutors allege Gary Birkhead knowingly allowed his son to use illicit drugs over two years.
 
     Birkhead told a judge he's eager to prove his innocence.
 
     His bond is set at $1 million.