A Kent County judge has approved a competency exam for Matthew Malleaux, the Sparta man accused of fatally beating his grandmother at the home they shared on Clark Street.
Defense attorney Mark P. Hunting requested the competency exam to determine if Malleaux understands the charges against him and can assist in his own defense.
The motion was approved Tuesday, Sept. 19 by 63rd District Court Judge Jeffrey O’Hara. The exam could take several weeks or months to complete.
Malleaux, 27, is being held without bond in the Kent County Jail. He is facing several charges, including open murder, in the death of 85-year-old Anne Malleaux Parker.
She died a day after the Aug. 7 beating; her injuries included a collapsed lung, dislocated shoulder, fractured left cheekbone, fractured left orbital bone, an injury to the back of her head and bruising to the spleen and kidney.
He’s also charged with felonious assault and resisting police for battling with officers and first responders who answered the woman’s medical alert alarm.
Sparta police were called to Parker’s home on Clark Street north of 12 Mile Road NW about 5 a.m. Aug. 7 for what appeared to be a request for medical help.
Once on scene, Sparta police officer Mark Wawrzyniak encountered a violent male, later identified as Matthew Malleaux, who swore at police and medical responders. He “told them to leave and threw a large cement object at EMT Jeff Cook, striking him in the head,’’ according to a probable cause affidavit.
Malleaux barricaded himself inside the home as additional help arrived. Sparta officers saw what appeared to be an unconscious woman on the floor. Police forced their way inside “and several officers had to physically subdue Matthew and use a Taser on him to get him to comply with their commands,’’ according to the probable cause affidavit.
Malleaux told officers he and his grandmother were the only two people in the house at the time “and that he had been drinking heavily, had taken Ecstasy two days prior, was upset over the CareLink alarm going off, had confronted his grandmother and the two of them argued,’’ court records show.
“Matthew stated that the argument turned into a physical fight and he grabbed Anne (by) the shoulders and violently shook her and head-butted her face with his face/head,’’ Michigan State Police Sgt. Denise Bentley wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Matthew said this occurred in Anne’s bedroom and the fight continued into the living room area where he said Anne may have tripped and fallen on the stairs.’’
Parker was taken to Spectrum Health, where she was treated for multiple injuries. Her daughter indicated that doctors had to remove Parker’s spleen, court records show. She died about 7 p.m. on Aug. 8. An autopsy indicated the cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma.
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