TEXARKANA, Texas -- A New Boston man whose son's skeletonized remains were found in his kitchen in March pleaded guilty Tuesday to abuse of a corpse.
David McMichael, 67, reportedly told police he didn't call authorities when his son, Jason McMichael, died in May 2018 because he didn't have a phone, according to a probable cause affidavit. David McMichael has been in custody since his arrest March 29.
David McMichael appeared Tuesday morning with Atlanta, Texas, lawyer Clint Allen before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. McMichael entered a guilty plea to an information charging him with abuse of a corpse, waiving his right to have the case presented to a Bowie County grand jury.
David McMichael clearly answered questions routinely asked of defendants at plea hearings. When Tidwell asked, "Have you ever been treated for mental illness or mental defect," David McMichael responded, "No sir."
While the specifics of David McMichael's plea agreement were not discussed in court Tuesday, Tidwell ordered officers with Bowie County probation to prepare a presentence investigation report. Such reports are typically ordered in cases when a term of probation is being considered.
The report will include information about McMichael's work, educational, social and criminal histories meant to aid the court at sentencing. Tidwell scheduled David McMichael for sentencing in mid-June and ordered he be released from custody until then.
David McMichael faces six months to two years in a state jail or a term of probation up to five years.
Officers were dispatched to his home in the 1200 block of South Merrill Street for a welfare check on Jason McMichael initiated by a family member. When asked if he knew why police were at his house, David McMichael allegedly said, "Because my son is dead."
Online obituary records list Jason McMichael's birth date as Aug. 1, 1977. He would have been 40 in May 2018.
David McMichael told officers with New Boston Police Department that his son "always slept on a pallet in the kitchen floor and one morning in May of 2018 he awoke and found his son deceased," according to the affidavit.
Skeletal remains were found in the kitchen.
David McMichael told officers he didn't report his son's death because he didn't have a phone. When asked why he didn't borrow a neighbor's phone, McMichael said he does not know his neighbors.
Assistant District Attorney Randle Smolarz represented the state at Tuesday's hearing.