By Jalen Maki

Tomahawk Leader Editor

MERRILL – A Merrill man this week reached plea deal in the 2020 death of his 16-month-old son.

Cody Gene Robertson, 26, of Merrill, appeared in Lincoln County Court on Monday, Aug. 15, where he pleaded no contest to a felony count of child neglect, causing death. Several other child neglect- and drug-related charges were dismissed in exchange, according to court records.

In March, the child’s mother, Amber Paige Boyd, 23, pleaded guilty to a felony count of child neglect, causing death. Several other child neglect- and drug-related charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

Boyd was sentenced to four years in prison and six years of extended supervision in July.

The child died on Nov. 12, 2020.

An autopsy found roughly 70 to 80 lesions on the child’s body, attributed to physical abuse. Methamphetamine was found in the child’s blood, as well as in the urine of the child’s siblings.

Boyd was taken into custody on May 19, 2021, following a six-month investigation into the child’s death. Robertson was also taken into custody in Merrill that day.

Robertson will be sentenced on Nov. 28.