News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Sabrina Horton and Attorney Devin Pommerenke speak to Judge Laura Frawley during Horton’s plea hearing in the Alcona County courtroom on Friday.

HARRISVILLE — Nickolas Corey, 23, was bound over to the 23rd Circuit Court in Alcona on Friday following preliminary examination for one count of first degree child abuse.

He was examined in the 81st District Court in Alcona County with Judge Laura Frawley presiding.

Corey’s co-defendant, Sabrina Horton, 22, was also scheduled for preliminary examination for one charge of first degree child abuse. Horton waived her right to preliminary examination and immediately entered a plea deal.

Horton pleaded guilty to two added charges: one count of using computers to commit a crime and one count of accessory after the fact to a felony. The charge of first degree child abuse was dismissed.

Attorney Devin Pommerenke asked Horton questions to establish a factual basis for her guilty plea. Horton said that the day that the three-month-old child, who is Corey and Horton’s son, was admitted to the hospital on May 23, she texted Corey after she had been questioned by law enforcement to make sure that when he talked to law enforcement their timelines of events matched up.

As part of the plea agreement, Horton agreed to testify on behalf of the prosecution against Corey.

The first witness to testify in Corey’s examination was Dr. Carla Parkin-Joseph. Parkin-Joseph works for the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. She testified that she is a child abuse pediatrician on the child protection team and that she has been board certified in child abuse pediatrics since 2017.

When Horton established a factual basis, she said that on May 23, the three-month-old child was first taken to MyMichigan Medical Center Tawas, transferred to Hurley Medical Center in Flint, and finally transferred to C.S. Mott by helicopter all in the same day.

Parkin-Joseph testified that she treated or was a part of the team that treated the child at C.S. Mott. Her team’s involvement was initiated on May 24.

Parkin-Joseph that the most consistent diagnosis in relation to the injuries identified for the child would be child physical abuse or abusive head trauma.

Abusive head trauma is the term now used for what was formerly called shaken baby syndrome.

Injuries that the infant sustained include bleeding in both retinas at the back of his eyes, and bleeding inside the skull on both sides, which can be the result of repetitive, rotational, acceleration and deceleration movement, Parkin-Joseph testified.

“All of those injuries would suggest a very severe traumatic event,” she said.

The child had no underlying medical condition that could have caused the injuries and could not have inflicted the injuries upon himself.

The long term effects of the injuries have made the child “medically complex,” Parkin-Joseph said.

The child just turned one-year-old and has not reached typical developmental milestones for that age. She said most children that age are crawling, standing up, and even walking, but the child can barely roll over. His vision appears to be impaired and he currently has a gastric tube for feeding.

Three witnesses testified that were present around the time that the child’s injuries occurred. Those witnesses were Horton, Horton’s mother Becky McKay, and Troy Wessler.

McKay and Wessler are both deaf or hard of hearing and testified through American Sign Language interpreters.

Horton testified that Mckay had been taking care of the child for about a week and a half at her home in another county. On May 21, McKay brought the infant back to Horton in Alcona County.

Horton said that at the time she was living in a home with Wessler, his girlfriend, their three kids, Corey, and her and Corey’s two sons, the youngest of which sustained the abusive head trauma injuries.

The child was brought back in the evening on May 21. Horton said she greeted her mother and the child at the door, but from that point Corey took care of the child while she and her mom spent time with Horton’s other son in a separate room of the house. There appeared to be nothing wrong with the infant that day.

On May 22, Horton said she remembered having an argument with Corey. She said she stayed in bed until around 1 or 2 p.m. and she did not notice anything wrong with the child that day either. She testified that she believed Corey was out in the garage with Wessler.

Horton said that she woke up at 2 or 3 a.m. on the 22nd to use the bathroom and heard Corey tell the baby to “shut up and be quiet.” She said that has happened five to 10 times in the past.

The night of the 22nd and in the early morning hours of the 23rd, witnesses testified that Corey stayed up with the child all night. Wessler said he woke up around 2 to 3 a.m. and went downstairs to find Corey coming out of the bathroom with the child.

He said Corey acted like he was startled.